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The Canterbury Tales Exam Review
These passages will be on the exam. Carefully review those and discuss the possible
answers with your partner(s).
The Nun
And she spoke daintily in French, extremely,
After the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe;
French in the Paris style she did not know.
At meal her manners were well taught withal;
No morsel from her lips did she let fall,
Nor dipped her fingers in the sauce too deep
But she could carry a morsel up and keep
The smallest drop from falling on her breast.
For courtliness she had a special zest,
And she would wipe her upper lip so clean
That not a trace of grease was to be seen
Upon the cup when she had drunk; to eat,
She reached a hand sedately for the meat.
She certainly was very entertaining,
Pleasant and friendly in her ways, and straining
To counterfeit a courtly kind of grace,
A stately bearing fitting to her place,
And to seem dignified in all her dealings.
The Monk
This Monk was therefore a good man to horse;
Greyhounds he had, as swift as birds, to
course.
Hunting a hare or riding at a fence
Was all his fun, he spared for no expense.
I saw his sleeves were garnished at the hand
With fine gray fur, the finest in the land,
And on his good, to fasten it at his chin
He had a wrought-gold, cunningly fashioned
pin;
Into a lover’s knot it seemed to pass.
The Pardoner
In one short day, in money down, he drew
More than the parson in a month or two,
Andy by his flatteries and prevarication
Made monkeys of the priest and congregation.
But still to do him justice first and last
In church, he was a noble ecclesiast.
1. This passage indicates the Nun
a. was careful when she ate
b. wanted people to notice her manners and the
way she behaved
c. demonstrated her concern for the approval of
people
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
2. The description of the Monk indicates
a. He is a holy man who carefully follows all the
expectations of being a Monk.
b. He is interested in always giving to the needy
and doing charitable deeds.
c. He is more interested in his own wants and
keeps more than he gives away.
d. None of the above.
3. The passage indicates that
a. The Pardoner made more money than the
church did.
b. The Pardoner gave all that he made back to
the church.
c. The Pardoner was dishonest.
Prevarication – telling lies
Ecclesiast – practitioner of church ritual
d. The Pardoner practiced church rituals so that
people believed he was doing as he should.
e. A, C, D
f.
All of the above
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The Wife of Bath's Tale
Among some other little things, now stale,
Ovid relates that under his long hair
The unhappy Midas grew a splendid pair
Of ass’s ears; as subtly as he might,
He kept his foul deformity from sight;
Save for his wife, there was not one that
knew.
He loved her best, and trusted in her, too.
He begged her not to tell a living creature
That he possessed so horrible a feature.
And she – she swore, were all the world to
win,
She would not do such villainy and sin
As saddle her husband with so foul a same;
Besides to speak would be to share the
shame.
Nevertheless she thought she would have
died
Keeping this secret bottled up inside;
It seemed to swell her heart and she, no
doubt,
Thought it was on the point of bursting out.
Fearing to speak of it to woman or man,
Down to a reedy marsh she quickly ran
And reached the edge. Her heart was all on
fire
And, as bittern bumbles in the mire,
She whispered to the water, near the ground,
“Betray me not, O water, with thy sound!
To thee alone I tell it: It appears
My husband has a pair of ass’s ears!
Ah! My heart’s well again, the secret’s out!
I could no longer keep it, not a doubt.”
And so you see, although we may hold fast a
little while, it must come out at last,
We can’t keep secrets;
The queen gave order he should tell them all
What thing it was that women wanted most.
He stood not silent like a beast or post
But gave his answer with the ringing word
Of a man’s voice and the assembly heard:
“My liege and lady, in general,” said he,
“A woman wants the self-same sovereignty
Over her husband as over her lover,
And master him; he must not be above her.
That is your greatest wish, whether you kill
Or spare me; please yourself. I wait your will.
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4. According to the passage,
a. Women can be trusted with all things.
b. Women can talk to water.
c. Women can’t keep secrets.
d. Women were loved, trusted, and cherished.
5.
Midas’ wife
a. told the secret of Midas having the golden
touch.
b. Told the secret of Midas having strange ears
c. Told the secret of the birth of water
d. Told no secrets whatsoever
6. According to the passage, what is the thing that
women want most?
a. money
b. freedom
c. jewels and fine clothing
d. to be equal to men
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“You have two choices; which one will you try?
To have me old and ugly till I die,
But still a loyal, true, and humble wife
That never will displease you all her life,
Or would you rather I were young and pretty
And chance your arm what happens in a city
Where friends will visit you because of me,
Yes, and in other places, too, maybe.
Which would you have? The choice is all your
own.”
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7. According to the passage, what is the reason to
accept an older woman in marriage?
a. She will be loyal and true.
b. A younger woman may be tempting to friends.
c. A younger woman may be inclined to stray
from being faithful.
d. All of the above.
e. None of the above
1. Pilgrimages were a usual occurrence during the time of the Middle Ages. People went on
pilgrimages for many reasons. The top reasons were:
 To show devotion
 Pray for miracles
 Wanted adventure or a change of scenery.
2.
The Canterbury Tales is structured as a frame story. It gives us a snapshot about what life
was like in the Middle Ages.
3. Although Geoffrey Chaucer was a devoutly religious man, he saw and had problems with the
corruption within the Church as well as officials abusing their power. Readers can clearly see
this with the descriptions of the Nun, the Monk, and the Friar.
4. Feudalism was like a pyramid of power.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
It involved kings, barons, vassals, knights, peasants, and the hierarchy of the church.
Kings were the all powerful overlords and landowners. Serfs were not.
Knights were armored warriors who protected the king.
Knights had to obey a strict code known as chivalry.
Women had no political rights and had to depend entirely on a man (husband, father,
brother, or uncle) for everything.
In the triangle below, draw in the placements for all EXCEPT the church people.
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5. The Black Death, or Bubonic Plague:
a. caused 1/3 of Europe’s population to die;
b. caused a labor shortage;
c. gave lower classes more bargaining power against the overlords
6. The Knight from the prologue was wealthy, truthful, noble and wise. He did all of the things
that chivalry required of him.
7. Chaucer included a short sketch of the Yeoman. Although the Yeoman did not have a lot of
description to add to the story, it is believed that Chaucer included him for two reasons: 1) To
give readers more insight into the Knight, by letting readers know that he owned land and that
he was not high maintenance for a person of high-ranking nobility; 2) to show a small glimpse of
the lower, working class.
8. The Nun is in charge of the religious order, but she is interested in being polite, dainty, and
well mannered. She wants people to believe she is important and noble. She thinks of her own
singing voice when she is in church rather than of the singing being in worship to God. She has
little pet dogs, and this is ironic because nuns took a vow of poverty. Instead of using money to
care for animals, she should use that money to provide for the poor. She speaks French, and
she knows that makes her look educated. She can be snobby, but she pretends to have a kind
heart. She also has jewelry which is ironic again because she is supposed to use her extra
money to provide for the poor. She is the leader of the convent, and she believes “love
conquers all” when she should always rely on God to provide and to conquer all.
9. The Monk doesn’t shut himself away in his monastery to study and to work. He believes that
doing so is too strict and old fashioned. He is fat and bald, and he doesn’t do manual labor. He
does not pray, work, or give to the poor. He hunts and he owns very nice horses, which is ironic
because with a vow of poverty, he shouldn’t have more than one horse, and that horse should
not be a fine horse. His behavior is ironic because all monks take vows of chastity, poverty, and
obedience to God’s word. He does what he wants rather than what is expected of him.
10. The Wife of Bath has been on a pilgrimage 5 times (Jerusalem 3 times) and has been
married 5 times. She considers herself to be important with regard to church. She cares more
about being on a pilgrimage and about her social status than anything else. She rushes to the
front of the church and is offended if anyone tries to get in front of her during a service.
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11. The Pardoner’s role in the church is to pardon people when they have committed a sin. He
accepts money and other valuables from those who are looking for a way for forgiveness from
sin. He is interested in collecting things and showing off what he has collected. His appearance
and behaviors make him look like a charlatan.
12. In the Wife of Bath’s tale, the Wife of Bath says that women cannot keep a secret. She talks
about how Midas’ wife knows that Midas has donkey ears, and that she must tell someone.
Midas’ wife tells the river the truth about Midas’ ears. In doing so, she proves the Wife of Bath’s
idea that women cannot keep secrets.
13. In the Wife of Bath’s tale, the Knight has raped a young maiden. His punishment for doing
so is death; he is to have his head cut off. However, the King agrees to hand him over to the
Queen. The Queen tells the Knight that he must come up with the answer to this question:
What do women most desire? If he can come up with the correct answer, the Queen will spare
his life. She gives him one year and one day to come up with the correct answer to the
question.
14. In his quest to find the correct answer, the Knight travels all over. Finally, an Old Woman is
able to provide the answer for him, and she will give him the answer on one condition, that he
will do whatever she asks next of him. He agrees, and she tells him that what women want
most is to be the same as a man, to have equal status as a man and not be beneath him. He
tells the Queen, she agrees that answer is correct, and then the Old Woman reveals her
condition. Her condition for giving him the answer is to agree to marry the Old Woman.
15. On the wedding night, the Knight was not interested in consummating the marriage. The
Old Woman then calls into question the Knight’s virtue and his behavior with regard to being a
knight. He is not living up to the knight’s code of chivalry or to his wealth and status. She
offers him a new deal: the choice of loyalty and faithfulness from his wife OR the worry of
unfaithfulness because of beauty. She said that as an old woman, she would always be faithful
to him. If his bride were a young girl, he would have to worry about the young girl being
unfaithful to him and have to worry about men trying to attract his wife. The Knight accepts the
Old Woman’s offer, and the Old Woman reveals that she is truly a young wife that any knight
would be proud to have. The irony of this story is the fact that the Knight committed a crime
against a woman where he had complete control over her, yet a woman has control over him in
the end!
16. The Feminist view that the Wife of Bath portrays offends and upsets some of the pilgrims,
especially the male population. During this time, women’s roles were that of inferior beings to
their husbands, fathers, brothers, etc. To portray a story in which the female character has
control over the Knight seemed absurd to the male travelers.
17. In the Pardoner’s Tale, three friends are drinking one at a tavern when they hear a bell
ringing and see a coffin go by. They ask a young knave who had died. The boy replied that it
was an old friend of theirs and that Death had slain him (the Plague actually killed him). He talks
about how this “Death” had slain many people, of all ranks and sexes. The three men made a
vow to find Death and kill him.
18. As they travel to find Death, they meet an old, poor man who greeted them courteously. The
loudest of the three responded with rudeness and asked why the old man was still alive. The old
man answered that he was alive, because he could not find anyone who would exchange their
youth for his age – he had begged to die, but still he had not. The old man told them that it was
not nice for them to speak so rudely to the elderly. Another of the three responded to the old
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man even more rudely, and yet, the old man continued with niceness. He told the men that they
could find Death up the crooked road and under the oak tree.
19. The drunkards got there and discovered eight bushels of gold coins. They talked about
Fortune (“fate”) giving them this money and they were to keep it and split it three ways. They
also said that they would have to move it during the night. They drew lots, and the youngest
went back to town to get bread and wine while the other two guarded the treasure. While he
was gone, the two plotted to kill the youngest when he returned so they would only have to split
the money two ways. One rioter says, “You can trust me as a brother.” At the same time, he is
planning to kill his friend. This is a classic example of verbal irony. Ironically, the youngest
plotted to kill the other two with poisoned wine when he returned so he wouldn’t have to split the
money with anyone.
20. Exactly as planned, they killed the youngest upon his return. They sat down to enjoy the
wine before burying his body. They drank the poisoned wine and died. The rioters thought that
was their lucky day, they all ended up dying. This is a classic example of situational irony. The
tale ends with a short sermon against sin, asking God to forgive the trespass of good men, and
warning them against the sin of avarice, before coming up and offering their money and wool for
pardons. This is very ironic that the pardoner preaches against avarice, because he is very
greedy himself.