The Canterbury Tales Study Guide
ENGLISH 4
Name: __________________________________________________ Pd: ________ Date: _________________
General Questions:
1. When did Chaucer write his tales? When did he live?
2. Since writing for a living didn’t truly support a family in Chaucer’s day, what jobs did Chaucer hold
throughout his life?
3. How many tales did Chaucer plan to write at one time? How many did he write?
4. Who does the narrator meet at the Tabard Inn?
5. Why is everyone at the Tabard?
6. What is a “pilgrimage”?
7. Why were they going to Canterbury Cathedral?
8. Who is the host, or owner of the Tabard Inn?
9. What game does the host propose to the pilgrims?
10. Is the group mostly the same (homogenous) or a diverse group?
11. How is The Canterbury Tales a frame narrative?
Feudal Estates of Men (determined by the social class one is born into and what he does for a living)
Clergy
Nobles
Merchants and
Peasantry
Intellectuals
Those who pray
Those who fight for king
and country
Those who trade (buy and
sell) or are scholars
Those who work for the other
three groups
Feudal Estates of Women (determined by the men in her life or lack thereof)
Virgin
Wife
Widow
“The Pardoner’s Tale”
1. Read the description of the Pardoner found in the Prologue. What do you learn about the Pardoner from
the Prologue?
2. What is ironic about how the Pardoner gets people to repent from the sin or avarice (greed)?
3. In the tale, where do the “rioters” meet and what agreement do they make?
4. They meet an old man as they begin their journey. What is the old man’s problem?
5. Where does the old man send the rioters?
6. What do they find where the old man sends them?
7. What happens to their search for Death?
8. Why do they decide to take home the treasure at night?
9. Why is one youth sent into town?
10. What plan do the other men make to kill the one when he returns from town?
11. What plan does the one who goes to town make to kill the two others when he gets back to the tree?
12. Who dies, and what happens?
13. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales often serve as an example of a particular genre of literature. How does this tale
serve as an exemplum?
14. What is the moral of this tale? The Pardoner offers a Latin version of the moral, “Radix malorum est
cupiditas.”
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale”
1. Read the description of the Wife of Bath found in the Prologue. What do you learn about the Wife of Bath
from the Prologue?
2. What is her first name?
3. The Wife of Bath’s prologue is characterized as a literary confession or an apology. Explain what these words
mean.
4. Why has the Wife of Bath gone on so many pilgrimages?
5. What does the Wife of Bath think of marriage?
6. How many husbands has the Wife of Bath had?
7. What is the balance of power between husband and wife in each case? Does it change? When and why? Pay
particular attention to the stories of husbands four and five.
8. What is the Wife of Bath’s complaint about husbands?
9. The Wife’s fifth husband beat her. Why does she stay with him?
10. What book does Janekin like to read?
11. What is the result of the fight between the Wife of Bath and her fifth husband?
12. What does the knight do to warrant the punishment of execution?
13. Who first sentences the knight to death?
14. Who saves the knight, and under what conditions is he temporarily released?
15. Why does the knight have trouble finding good answers? What is wrong with the answers he gets?
16. Whom does the knight meet on his way home? What deal does he make on his way home after the year
has almost ended?
17. What is the acceptable answer to the Queen’s question?
18. What does the woman ask of the knight in return for saving his life?
19. The knight keeps his word and marries her, but he is miserable. What options does the old woman give
him?
20. What does the knight choose?
21. Why does the old woman promise him both beauty and loyalty/faithfulness?
“The Nun’s Priest’s Tale”
1. What do we know about the Nun’s Priest?
2. What do we learn about the widow, where she lives, and her financial situation?
3. What is Chanticleer? What advanced astronomical knowledge does he possess?
4. Who is Pertelote?. What is her relation to Chanticleer?
5. How old is Pertelote when Chanticleer falls in love with her ? Is there anything wrong with this? Why or why
not?
6. What song does Chanticleer sing ? Is it an appropriate song for Chanticleer to sing?
7. To what does Pertelote attribute dreams?
8. What is Pertelote’s suggested remedy?
9. Explain the significance of the Latin phrase that Chanticleer tells Pertelote means “Woman is man’s delight
and all his bliss.”
10. Summarize the story of the shipmates.
11. State the reason for Chanticleer’s stories to Pertelote.
12. Why does the fox flatter Chanticleer?
13. What happens to Chanticleer?
14. How does Chanticleer escape?
15. Can Chanticleer be fooled twice?
16. What human weaknesses do the barnyard animals point out to the readers?
17. “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is called a “beast fable.” What is a classic “beast fable”?
18. How is the Nun’s Priest like Chanticleer?
Notes on Chaucer’s Style of Writing: