General Prologue

1. Why is the time of year important to the opening of The Canterbury Tales?

2. Are we supposed to admire the Prioress, or not? How can we tell? (118-162)

3. How would you describe the narrator of The Canturbury Tales: omniscient? sympathetic? detached? moralistic? relativist? ironic? sincere? What seems to be his attitude toward the Monk? (165-207) the Friar? (252) the Merchant? (279-280)

4. How does Chaucer use physical details to shape our impressions of the Cook? (379-387)

5. On the basis of her description, what kind of tale do you expect the Wife of Bath to tell? (444-476)

6. Why is the Host, not the Knight, chosen to lead the pilgrimage?

7. Why does Chaucer present himself as stupid? "My wit is short"

8. Which Pilgrim do think we are supposed to admire most? Least? How can you tell?

9. If Chaucer had included you among the pilgrims, who would you most resemble?

Wife of Bath’s Prologue

1. People often observe that Chaucer seems to really LIKE the Wife of Bath? Do you find this hard to believe? In her "Prologue," what about her is likeable?

2. Do you agree with the Wife of Bath’s feminist critique of history writing? 688-710

3. Do you think the extensive presentation of classical and medieval anti-feminist views makes the "Prologue" on the whole anti-feminist? Why or why not?

4. Why does the Wife of Bath love her 5th husband most?

5. Given this "Prologue," what do you expect the tale to be like?

Wife of Bath’s Tale

1. Do you consider the Wife of Bath’s tale out of character? Does it reflect the woman presented in the "General Prologue" and her own "Prologue"?

2. What vision of the good life emerges from the Wife of Bath’s tale?

3. What do the choices posed by the old lady to the knight in this tale tell you about the self-image the Wife of Bath projects in her prologue? 1219-1227

4. Do you consider the Wife of Bath’s tale anti-feminist?

5. Why is the Wife of Bath’s prologue so long and her tale so short?

Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale

1. Does the Pardoner’s "Prologue" reveal that he understands, or that he fails to understand, his own tale?

2. From the "Prologue," what can you tell about the Pardoner’s purpose in telling his tale?

3. After his tale, when the Pardoner tries to hit up the pilgrims for a contribution, do you think he is serious, or joking? How can you tell?

4. Do you think the Host overreacts to these efforts? (p. 207) If the Host is the leader of the pilgrims, why does it take the Knight to intervene and reestablish peace?

5. In creating his tale, what important changes does Chaucer make to his source, "The Hermit, Death. and the Robbers?" (p. 415)

6. If the Pardoner’s tale, exactly as written, were told by the Wyf of Bathe instead, how would this change the tale, even if NOT ONE WORD were changed?

Nun’s Priest’s Prologue and Tale

1. Why do you think Chaucer makes beasts, not humans, the stars of this tale?

2. What do you think is the most important difference between Chaucer’s tale and the story of Reynard the fox and Chanteclere, from Le Roman de Renart, his source? (p. 429)

3. What do you think is the funniest thing about the Nun’s Priest’s tale?

4. What new light does the tale cast on the perennial debate among Christians about free will and necessity? (470-486)

5. What do you think is Chaucer’s opinion of Homer? (375-384)

6. Why do you think the beast story is framed by the activities of a "povre widwe?" (55)

7. How does the "Prologue" to "The Nun’s Priest’s Tale" help shape the tale that John tells?