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451 Study Questions for Chaucer's
General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
Vocabulary:
the bodily humors, church summoner, reeve, pardoner, pardon,
saints, relic, pilgrimage
Introduction:
Lecture or Handouts: What
does the trait of being gap-teethed indicate about a person
according to medieval beliefs about anatomy? Explain the
theory of the four bodily humors? Why was gold valued by
medieval physicians? What was the medieval attitude toward
widows and remarriage?
Identify the following characters:
The Doctor of Physick (i.e., the Doctor
of Medicine), the Wife of Bath, the Parson, the Plowman,
the Reeve, the Summoner, the Pardoner, the Host (Harry Bailey)
Reading Questions:
- THE DOCTOR OF PHISIK (MEDICAL DOCTOR)
- Why are the stars important for the Doctor of Physick's
medical treatments? (i.e., what medieval "science"
of the stars does the Doctor ascribe to?)
- What is this stuff about the humour of "hot
or cold, of moist or dry"?
- What profitable business arrangement does the Doctor
have with "apothecaries"? (What are apothecaries?)
- What sort of books is the physician well versed in?
- What book does the physician not
know very well?
- What material does he like best of all as a "fine
cordial"?
- THE WIFE OF BATH
- What physical disability does the Wife of Bath have?
- What does the Wife of Bath wear on her head? How much
does this weigh? Why do you suppose she wears this?
- What color are her stockings?
- How many husbands has she had?
- What are two ways of interpreting that line about "not
counting other company in youth"?
- How many times had the Wife of Bath journeyed to Jerusalem?
What other places has she traveled to? What do these wide-travels
suggest about her as a character?
- What are the Wife of Bath's teeth like? [Lecture:
what does this indicate about her biology or psychology
according to medieval physiognomy?)
- What does the Wife wear on her feet/boots to help steer
her horse? Why is this unusual for the period?
- When we hear that, "For of that art she'd learned
the old, old dance," what is this old dance the speaker
is referring to, given the context of her knowledge in
the previous lines?
- THE PARSON
- According to the narrator, the Parson is hesitant to
"curse [his parishioners] to get a tithe." Instead,
what does the Parson do with his own income and goods?
- Why does the narrator note that the Parson's parish
was "wyd" with "houses fer asonder"
before describing the Parson's travels? How does this
characterize the Parson?
- What does the Parson do first before he teaches his
flock?
- When the Parson asks allegorically, "if gold rust,
what shel iren do?" what is he talking about? Who
or what is the gold and who or what is the iron?
- When the narrator speaks about a "shiten shepherde
and a clene sheep," what is he talking about?
- Why does the Parson refuse promotion to London or Saint
Paul's Cathedral?
- What does the Parson do before he ever gets around to
teaching "Cristes loore and his apostles twelve"
to his flock, according to the concluding lines of his
portrait in the General Prologue?
- THE PLOWMAN
- To whom is the Plowman related? What sort of work does
this Plowman do all day?
- What does the Plowman wear and how does this connect
to the early setting of The Canterbury Tales?
- What's the Miller like in terms of his physical build?
- The Miller has an usual party-trick. What technique
does he use to remove a door from its hinges?
- What color is his hair or beard? To what animals does
the narrator compare this hair color?
- What's unusual or disturbing about the Miller's nose?
- We find out the Miller is good at jesting and "poetizing,"
but what's the only thing he writes/composes poetry about?
- What does it mean when the speaker says he had a "gold
thumb."
- What unusual musical instrument does the Miller play?
According to the last lines of the portrait, where does
he apparently travel in the pilgrimage order?
- What is a manciple? What apparently is the Manciple's
attitude to "learned men" in comparison to his
own wit?
- THE MILLER (ROBIN)
- What is the physical build of the Miller like?
- What physical activity is the Miller particularly good
at? What prize does he always win in this athletic events?
- The Miller has an unusual party-trick when he gets drunk.
What technique does he use to remove a door from its hinges?
- What color is his beard?
- What does he have on the end of his nose?
- What does it mean to say he was "a janglere and
a goliardyes"?
- What illegal thievery does the Miller engage in?
- What does Chaucer mean by saying, "yet he hadde
a thombe of gold, pardee"?
- What musical instrument does the Miller play?
- Where does he travel in the procession of pilgrims?
(Hint: This is revealed in the
bit about "And therwithal he broghte us out
of towne.")
- THE REEVE (OSWALD)
- What is the physical build of the Reeve like, and how
does he serve as a foil for the Miller?
- What does it mean in terms of bodily humors that the
Reeve is "choleric"? Hint:
This is a bit of foreshadowing for events taking place
later on in The Canterbury Tales.)
- How does the Reeve keep his hair and beard trimmed?
- What is the Reeve's bodily build like, judging by the
narrator's description of the Reeve's legs?
- The narrator states that "Yet no man ever found
him in arrears." What are two ways of interpreting
this statement about the Reeve's skills?
- Why are business agents more afraid of the Reeve than
they are afraid of death?
- Before Oswald was a Reeve, what job did he have?
- From what region of England does the Reeve come?
- Where does the Reeve position himself in the procession
of pilgrims as they travel? Why do you suppose he ends
up "evere" riding in that spot?
- THE SUMMONER
- What is a summoner?
- What skin problems does Chaucer's Summoner have?
- What foods does the Summoner like best?
- What is the Summoner's mastery of Latin limited to?
- Why does the narrator think the Summoner is a generous,
friendly fellow? (i.e., For what trade would the Summoner
let a person off easily when that person was summoned
to court?) What are two grammatical ways of reading those
lines about "suffre for a quart of wine / A good
felawe to have his concubyn / a twelf month"?
- The text tells us he knew "ful prively a fynch
eek koude he pulle." Your notes give you one interpretation
of this phrase. Can you think of another? [Hint:
Don't think too hard--we're looking at some coarse humor
here.]
- How had the Summoner gained power over all the boys
and girls of the diocese?
- The Summoner is making an unusual fashion statement.
What does he wear upon his head, and what does he carry
for a buckler (a shield)? How might this be a parody of
scripture? (Check out Ephesians 6:16, a verse some priests
required crusaders and pilgrims to read before going on
a pilgrimage or crusade).
- What pilgrim in particular is a buddy to the Summoner?
- THE PARDONER
- What is a pardoner? What is a pardon?
- What is the Pardoner's hair like? What is this "vernycle"
that the Pardoner has sewed to his cap?
- What documents are stuffed full into the Pardoner's
wallet?
- What does the Pardoner's voice sound like?
- What's unusual about the Pardoner's beard (trick question!).
- What does the speaker mean when he states, "I think
he [the Pardoner] was a gelding or a mare"?
- What does the Pardoner claim about the pillow-case he
carries?
- What does the Pardoner claim about his bottle filled
with pig bones?
- What other fake relics does the Pardoner carry to sell?
- Chaucer's narrator notes that the Pardoner "moste
preche . . . To wynne silver." Why do you suppose
the Pardoner seeks to win silver? Why not gold?
- When the narrator finishes listing the 29 pilgrims,
what does he apologize about to the reader in lines 720-746?
- THE HOST (HARRY BAILEY)
- What traits distinguish the host?
- GENERAL PROLOGUE CONTINUED:
- What sport or entertainment does the Host suggest for
the pilgrim company?
- Describe the rules of the game the Host establishes.
How many stories will each pilgrim tell on the way to
Canterbury? How many stories will each pilgrim tell on
the way back to London?
- What are the two criteria used to determine the best
tale? What is the prize the best storyteller will receive?
Where will the winner receive this prize? Who will pay
for it?
- Who will judge the contest? According to the Host, if
anybody "gainsays" or questions his rule, what
will that person have to do along the journey?
- How does Harry Bailey (the Host) determine the order
of the storytellers? Why is it suspicious that the Knight
"happens" to draw first and "happens"
to win?
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