Freeman
Fall 2005-2006
Guided Reading Questions: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
“General Prologue”
1. Characterize the speaker? What seems most important to him? Offer two examples each.
2. Analyzing structure and syntax:
a. How would you describe the speaker’s language and tone?
b. Identify two selections that create vivid images and explain why you chose these
sections by focusing on the diction.
c. How is the first paragraph different from the rest of the prologue? Provide a
minimum of three reasons.
3. The Three Estates, Clergy, Warriors, and Laborers, exist in the prologue. What
differences/similarities do you note in the satirization of each estate? Mention at least five.
a. Which characters are depicted as ideals?
b. What evidence can you find that Chaucer’s order of introduction is purposeful.
4. Where do the Seven Deadly Sins present themselves within this prologue? Offer a
minimum of one example for each sin.
5. William Blake said, “Names alter, things never alter.” How do these subject matters,
characters, and themes parallel today’s society?
6. From your PowerPoint notes and prior research, what historical events of the fourteenth
century are depicted in this prologue? You must identify three events.
7. Having read the prologue, identify Chaucer’s purpose(s) in writing his Canterbury Tales.
“The Miller’s Tale”
1. How do the pilgrims respond to the Knight’s story, and how is the link between these two
tales a satire of the working class?
2. A drastic change in tone and attitude occurs between these two tales. Why does Chaucer
juxtapose such contrasting attitudes?
3. How does the description of the Miller let us know this tale is Chaucer’s? What
advantage is there for Chaucer in including such a tale?
4. Focus on the description of Alison and put this description into your own words.
5. What is the symbolism of Nicholas’s elaborate, yet unnecessary plan?
6. How does Chaucer maintain the comic effect when John is so betrayed? How do
Chaucer’s attitude toward sex and his use of language contribute to this effect?
7. Justice: Is there poetic justice in the ending? Why does nothing happen to Alison? How
is Nicholas’s sin reflected in his punishment? How is Absolon’s?
“Wife of Bath”
1. Make an evidenced argument supporting the statement that the Wife of Bath is Chaucer’s
most well-developed character? Why might Chaucer have invested such time in this
character?
2. What salient examples of irony exist in her prologue? Offer a minimum of three.
3. In the prologue to this tale, how does the Pardoner’s interruption mock the Wife of Bath?
After his second interruption, the Wife of Bath retracts her serious tone and vows she
intends only to amuse. What do you think are her actual intentions?
4. In what ways does she reverse the traditional roles of marriage? What methods does she
use to accomplish the task?
5. What differences exist between her fifth husband and her other husbands? How does the
argument between these two alter her stance toward marriage?
Freeman
Fall 2005-2006
6. In what ways does Chaucer mock Arthurian code?
7. Why is the story of Midas included in this tale?
8. Review the conversation between the Knight and his new wife. What appeals does each
argument make to our senses of aesthetics, morality, and social equality? What insight
does the tale offer in the nature of love relationships?
“The Nun’s Priest’s Tale”
1. This tale is generally regarded as Chaucer’s masterpiece – the tale in which all his talents
and knowledge are most effectively expressed. Support this statement with at least two
examples.
2. Examine the framing of this tale. Chaucer pulls together two social classes, the poor
widow who keeps a small farm and the aristocracy. How does Chaucer satirize each of
these two groups?
3. How does the language change when the scene switches to the barnyard?
4. How are Pertelote’s reactions to Chanticleer’s problems satirizing the heroic code?
5. Trace the arguments of Pertelote and Chanticleer. What are their sources of authority?
Who is most persuasive? Which devices are most effective? How does the argument
conclude?
6. What opinion does the narrator have of women and their influence on men? Does
Chanticleer support or oppose this opinion? How does the tale itself satirize these
positions?
7. Chanticleer, Pertelote, and the Fox all teach at least one moral. What moral does each
character teach? How is the tale an attack on women?