The Canterbury Tales Summary
Directions: Use the picture clues and scrambled words in the box to
fill in the blanks. Words can be used more than once.
Background
Thomas Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury was murdered in Canterbury
________________on December 29, 1170. The Canterbury Tales begins with the introduction
of each of the _____________ making their journey to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas a
Becket. Author Geoffrey _____________ immortalizes these pilgrims in his most famous work
The Canterbury Tales.
The Prologue
In The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales the narrator describes himself as a man who is
traveling from London with a group of strangers on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. This group of
people is thrown together when they all travel to the shrine of _______________________.
The Prologue gives a brief description of the setting as they assemble at the Tabard Inn in
Southwark to prepare for their trip. The Prologue then describes each of the pilgrims.
Among these pilgrims are a Knight, his son the ___________, a Prioress (also called a nun) and
her Monk (known as the Nun’s Priest), a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin,
a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife
of Bath, and Chaucer himself.
After the introductions, the Host, who owns the inn that they gather at and who is leading the
group, suggests that they should each tell _____ ____________ while walking; one on the way
to Canterbury and one on the way back, to pass the ______ more quickly. The Host of the inn
sets the rules for the tales. He offers the person telling the best story a free _____________ at
the tavern when they return. The Host decides that the one who draws the shortest straw would
be the first to tell their tale. Thus, the _____________ is the first to tell his tale.
The Knight's Tale is a tale about two knights, ____________and ___________ who are
captured in battle and sentenced to ______________ in Athens under the order of King Theseus.
While imprisoned in a tower, they see ___________the sister of Queen Hippolyta, and both fall
instantly in _______with her. Both knights eventually leave ____________ separately: a friend
of Arcite begs Theseus to release him, while _______________later escapes. ______________
returns to the Athenian court disguised as a servant, and when Palamon escapes he suddenly
finds Arcite. They fight over ______________, but their fight is stopped when
_________________finds them. _______________ sets the rules for a ______________
between the two knights for __________’s affection, and each raise an army for a battle a year
from that date. Before the battle, Arcite prays to Mars for victory in battle, _________ prays to
Diana that she may marry happily, and Palamon prays to Venus to have Emily as his wife. All
three gods hear their prayers and argue over whose prayers should get preference, but Saturn
decides to mediate. During their battle, ___________ wins the battle, but as soon as he is
crowned victor, he is killed. Before he dies, he reconciles with ____________ and tells him that
he deserves to marry ________. So ___________and _________ get married. When the Knight
finishes his tale, everybody is pleased with its honorable qualities.
The Nun's Priest's Tale tells the story of the _________ Chaunticleer and Pertelote, the
_________ he loves. Chaunticleer was ill one night and had a disturbing ________________
that he was chased by a __________. He feared this __________ was telling about the future,
but Pertelote mocked him and insisted that the ___________was only caused by gas and
indigestion. She suggested he take a ________________to cure himself. Chaunticleer insisted
that ________________ are signifiers, and proceeded to tell her stories to prove his point.
Chaunticleer finally agrees with his wife and decides he has nothing to worry about. However,
Chaunticleer is indeed tricked by a _________ who flatters him into singing with his
_________ closed. In turn, Chaunticleer tricks the __________ into opening his mouth and
when he does, Chaunticleer escapes and flies away. The moral of the story is not to let pride
take over so that you are not influenced by anyone’s flattery.
In The Pardoner’s tale the pardoner begins with an elaborate confession about the deceptive
nature of his profession. He brags about the secrets of his trade, how he gets people to give him
___________ in exchange for forgiveness of ______. He boasts about the selling of useless
items such as saints' relics. The Pardoner' tells his tale which concerns three rioters who search
for ___________ to defeat him. They find an old man who tells them that they may find
____________ under a nearby tree, but under this tree instead find a large fortune. They decide
against carrying the fortune away during daylight so no one will accuse them of stealing the
fortune. While they wait for nightfall, they decide one of them should go into town to get food
and drink. They draw straws and the youngest one ends up drawing the short straw and leaves
for town to get food and drink. The other two, remaining behind, plot to kill the younger one so
they only have to split the fortune two ways. Meanwhile the younger man has a plan to take the
fortune for himself. He puts ______________ in the bottles of wine he buys. When the
younger one returns from town, the two rioters stab him, then unknowingly drink the poisoned
wine and die themselves. The three rioters thus find ________________ in the form of greed.
The Pardoner ends his tale with a lecture against sin, imploring the travelers to pay him for
pardons, and be absolved, but the Host berates him into silence. The Pardoner’s tale is clearly
an example of Chaucer’s use of ___________ as he exposes the hypocrisy of the Church and
clergy within it.
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