451 Study Questions for Chaucer's
General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
Vocabulary:
frame narrative, ambiguity, bourgeoisie, satire, stereotype,
relic, unreliable narrator, guild, Great Vowel Shift, Middle
English, summa, patronage, manuscript, parchment,
quire, vellum, folio, recto, scribe, verso, summa, bourgeoisie,
prologue, three estates of feudalism
Introduction:
Why might we consider The Canterbury Tales asa
microcosm of the medieval world? How is this design of all-embracing
social classes represented in Chaucer's work similar to
the medieval idea of a summa or a cathedral?
Lecture or Handouts: Who
is this Thomas á Becket fellow? The story
begins in "Southwerk" (i.e., modern Southwark).
What sort of place is Southwark? The inn is called "The
Tabard Inn." What is a tabard? Why does the narrator-persona
begin his discussion of the various pilgrims by describing
the knight? How does this connect to the medieval idea of
Ordo? Why might Chaucer have chosen 29 pilgrims
(i.e., how is the number 29 connected to Saint Thomas á
Becket?) Chaucer states there were 29 pilgrims beside
himself in line 24. Count his pilgrims. How many are there
actually? How might we explain that discrepancy? What does
The Ancrene Rule state about nuns or prioresses
having pets? What was Dartmouth famous for in medieval times?
Identify the following characters:
Hubert, Madame Eglantine, the Knight, the
Squire, the Yeoman, the Prioress, the Monk, the Friar, the
Franklin, the Oxford Clerk, the Lawyer, the Five Guildsman,
the Cook, the Sailor
Reading Questions:
- What season is described in the opening
passage of The Canterbury Tales? What do people
especially want to do when this season comes, according
to the narrator?
- Where especially do English people want
to go? Why do they want to go there?
- How many pilgrims does the narrator
claim he meets at the Tabard inn?
- THE KNIGHT
- What are some of the places where the
Knight has fought? Why is it odd that the Knight fought
alongside the lord of Palatye (Turkey) against another
heathen ruler there?
- What does the Knight do to his opponents
if he beats them in the tournament ring ("the lists")?
- What is the Knight's conversation and
speech like, according to the narrator?
- What is the Knight's armor (his habergeon)
like in appearance? Why does it look like this? What does
it suggest about the speed he makes toward Canterbury?
What does that in turn suggest about the Knight's character?
- What pilgrim is the son of this Knight?
- THE SQUIRE
- How does the Squire's appearance contrast
with that of the Knight?
- Where has the Squire "fought"
his "battles"? How does this contrast with his
father?
- What goal or desire motivates the Squire
to "bear hym weel" in these mock-battles?
- How old is the Squire? What talents
does he have and how do they contrast with the Knight's
talents?
- What are the Squire's gown and sleeves
like? What does this suggest about his practicality in
dress?
- Why does the Squire sleep so little?
- What is the Squire's main duty during
dinner?
- THE YEOMAN
- What's a yeoman in the medieval world?
Why is the Yeoman so sun-tanned? (What does this trait
suggest about him and his activities?)
- What color does the Yeoman wear? Why
do you suppose he wears these colors?
- Why do you suppose the Knight would
want a servant who is good with a bow?
- What saint's medallion does the Yeoman
wear? What is this saint in charge of? (You might wish
to go-online and look at a Dictionary of Saints to find
out.)
- THE PRIORESS
- What's a prioress? What is the name
of the particular prioress who joins the pilgrimage company?
- What is the most horrible oath or dirty
word the Prioress ever states?
- When the Prioress sings, where does
she "intone" the words? What does this suggest
about her singing ability to an observant reader? What
does suggest about the narrator's reaction when he says
she sings "ful weel" and "ful semely"
(i.e., how good is our narrator's sense of music?)
- What foreign language does the Prioress
speak? Where (according to her accent) did she learn to
speak French? What might this detail reveal about her
background? What does the narrator's comment that "she
spak [French] ful faire and fetisly" reveal about
the narrator's understanding of French?
- How does the Prioress eat her food?
What might this detail suggest about her background or
her personal habits?
- What does the word "countrefete"
in line 139 suggest about the Prioress's high-class manners?
- What is the Prioress's attitude toward
animals? What does this suggest about about her?
- Lecture: What
do the Prioress's grey eyes and red lips suggest about
her, given what we know about courtly literature?
- What is the Prioress's physical build
like in terms of size and stature?
- What does her golden brooch have written
on it? What are two ways of interpreting this quotation?
- What four (?) people accompany the prioress?
Lecture: How might this list
of people explain the numerical discrepancy between how
many pilgrims Chaucer says are in the company and how
many he lists?
- THE MONK
- The Monk, we hear, is an "outridere."
What is an outrider?
- We hear the Monk loved "venerie."
What are two meanings of venerie in medieval
puns? How is this word related to modern words like venison,
Venus, and venereal?
- The narrator says the Monk was "A
manly man, to been an abbot able." What are two very
different ways of interpreting this bit about being a
"capable father"?
- What noise do people hear as the Monk
rides past them?
- What is the Monk's attitude toward the
Benedictine Rule or the Mauritian Rule?
- What does the Monk think about the argument
that holy men shouldn't hunt animals?
- What does the Monk think about studying
books?
- What does the Monk think about Saint
Augustine's Rule, which requires that monastic clergy
work with their hands at manual labor?
- What does the narrator say about the
Monk's arguments? What might this suggest about the narrator?
- What animals follow the Monk around
when he rides?
- What's unusual about the sleeves of
the Monk's habit? Why does this seem strange for a monastic
habit?
- What sort of pin does the Monk wear
in his habit? Why is this pin strange or unusual for a
Monk?
- What is the Monk's hair like? (trick
question!)
- What is the Monk's skin complexion like
in line 205? What does this suggest about the time he
spends indoors in his monastic cell reading scripture?
- THE FRIAR
- What is the Friar's name?
- What does the Friar frequently arrange
for young women in his parish? What are two ways of interpreting
this "generosity"?
- What are two ways of reading the statement
that the Friar "was a noble post" unto his mendicant
order?
- What sort of absolution does the Friar
grant to sinners?
- What does the Friar want instead of
tears from sinners?
- What locations does the Friar know especially
well in every town? What sort of people does he know very
well? What sort of people does he not
know well?
- What verbal affectation does the Friar
adopt to make his English sound sweet?
- We hear that the Friar was particularly
of much help on "love-days." What are two ways
of interpreting this phrase, "love-days"?
- THE MERCHANT
- What sort of hat does the Merchant wear?
How does he wear his beard?
- What sort of subject does the Merchant
always talk about?
- Why does it make sense that the Merchant
is particularly worried about the sea being kept free
from pirates?
- What does the narrator say the Merchant's
name is? (Trick question!)
- THE OXFORD CLERK
- What does the word "Clerk"
mean in medieval times?
- What does the Clerk study at Oxford?
What does the Clerk of Oxford look like in terms of his
physical build? How does this compare or contrast with
the condition of his horse? What condition are his clothes
in? What does this suggest about the Clerk?
- What does the Clerk apparently spend
all his money on?
- How talkative is the Clerk? When he
talks, what traits characterize his speech?
- What two things would the Clerk "gladly"
do?
- THE SERGEANT-AT-LAW (THE LAWYER)
- The lawyer (Sergeant-at-law) is capable
of quoting what verbatim?
- How busy is the lawyer? What are two
ways of reading the lines, "Ther koude no wight pynche
at his writyng"?
- THE FRANKLIN
- The Franklin is described in particular
detail. What is his beard like? What color are his cheeks?
(What modern legendary figure does he resemble from our
holiday season?)
- What does it mean when the text reads
the Franklin "was Epicurus' very son"? Who is
Epicurus and what is his philosophy? Click here for a
hint.
- To what patron saint is the Franklin
compared explicitly? Why is this an appropriate comparison?
- What does it mean that "a bettre
envyned man was nowher noon"?
- What substances "snow" inside
the Franklin's house?
- What is always set up and ready to go
in the Franklin's hall?
- THE GUILDSMEN
- The guildsmen--the Haberdasher, the
Carpenter, the Weaver, the Dyer, and the Arras (Tapestry)
Maker--all have eating utensils made of the same metal.
What metal is this? [Lecture question:
Why are they carrying items of this metal?] What hired
help do the guildsmen bring with them?
- THE COOK
- Who does the Cook apparently work for
in the pilgrimage company?
- What does the Cook have on his shin?
What does this indicate about the Cook's health or hygiene?
- [Lecture:
what color is the seepage coming from a "mormal"
according to medieval medical books?]
- What normal color is the "blankmanger"
that the Cook fixes? [Hint:
this dish comes from the French words blanc and
mangere (to eat), which provides a clue] Why
is this particularly gross, given earlier details about
the Cook's health?
- THE SHIPMAN
- From what town does the Shipman possibly
come? [Lecture question: What
is the area around this town famous for in the medieval
period?]
- What does the Sailor keep on a cord
around his neck? What does he keep "under his arm?"
What does he keep hidden under his clothing {i.e., "and
down")? Why do you suppose he keeps three
of these items on cords? What does it suggest about what
sort of "sailor" this man is?
- What does the Shipman steal while traders
sleep?
- If the Shipman gets involved in a naval
battle, what does he do with the people he captures, according
to the narrator? What does that mean? What does the narrator
mistakenly think the sailor means?
- The Shipman knows every "cryke"
(creek) in Britain and Spain, and all the "havens"
from Gotland and Cape Finistere. Neither Gotland nor Finistere
are major trade routes, and most shipman have little reason
to hide their boats away by sailing up un-navigable creeks.
What does this strange knowledge suggest about
the Shipman?
- What is the name of his vessel?
Identifications: Be able
to match a character's portrait from The General Prologue
with the name of the character.