LTEN 107
Please read poem ‘Gentilesse’ (handout)
TS: Please
answer question 6.
1. What is the relationship between Dorigen and her husband, Averagus? What type of marriage do they have?
2. How does Dorigen
come to make her promise to Aurelius?
What does she promise?
3.What is a
4.How is this tale part of the “marriage group”? How does it “quit” earlier tales?
5.What is “gentilesse”? How is it defined in the
6.The
Merchant’s Tale TS: please respond to question 10.
1. What does the Merchant have to say about the
institution of marriage in his Prologue?
How does he characterize his wife?
2. What are the views of the Knight in the tale,
January, on marriage? Why does he decide
to take a wife at age 60 and what were his views prior to this time? What, according to his views, are the
attributes and purpose of a wife? What,
in lines, 1415-1468, is he looking for in a wife?
3. What does the Knight have to say about
Theophrastus? (See lines
1293-1310). How does this detail relate
to the Wife’s Prologue?
4. What advice do Placebo and Justinus give? What
might they stand for? What is the
significance of their names?
5. How would you characterize the style of this
tale? What sorts of features does it
have? How does it compare to the other
tales we’ve read?
6. Look at the description of the wedding night
in lines 1818-1865. How are January and
May described? How would you describe
the tone and use of detail here? What is
life like for May?
6. Who is Damyan? How does he compare to other lovers we have
seen? Palamon and Arcite? Hende Nicholas and Absolom?
8. How do the gods function in this tale? How do they compare to the gods in the
Knight’s Tale?
9. Look at the Merchant’s
Epilogue. What type of wife does the Host have?
How does his contribution add to the “marriage group?” How does the “marriage group” develop?
10. Line 1597 reads “ love is blynd alday and may not see” and there are multiple references to
trees in the tale, see for example, lines 1461-1466 and line 1641. How do these two motifs function in the tale?
Pardoner
TS: Please respond to question 5 (Second TS optional: question 3)
1. What is the relationship between teller and
tale? What does the tale tell us about
the Pardoner.
Examine not only his Prologue, but his portrait in the General
Prologue.
2. Why does the Pardoner, after telling everyone
that he is a fake, attempt to get money from them at the end of his tale? What are his motivations? What are the implications of this move?
3. How do the Pardoner and the Wife of Bath
function together in the Canterbury Tales? What are their similarities
and differences? How do they interact
dramatically? Why does the Pardoner
interrupt the Wife?
4. The references to the Plague in the tale are
Chaucer’s addition to this folk theme.
What does this addition bring to the tale?
5. Can a corrupt man work good? Can the Pardoner, a “ful
vicious man” effect salvation?
6. How does this instance of ecclesiastical
satire work with the others we have read?
The Shipman’s Tale. TS: question 6.
1. What type of tale is it? How does it compare generically to the other
tales we have read? Which is most like?
2. Does the tale have a moral? What is it?
3. Look at lines 1622-4. What meanings does “taillynge”
have? What is the role of “taillynge” overall in the tale?
4. Is this tale ecclesiastical satire? How?
Who is the satire directed against?
5. We think this tale was originally assigned to
the Wife of Bath? What if it had
been? How would this have changed your
view of her? What difference does her
“Arthurian” tale make?
6. What role does money play in this tale? How is money regarded? How is marriage regarded? Are they connected?
Prioress’s Tale For May 30 Please
answer question 5.
1. What do you make of the tale’s setting in
2. How are Jews represented? Christians?
What are their differences and similarities?
3. Look at the Prioress’s opening Prologue. How does she portray herself? What are the
affinities between the Prioress in GP and her Prologue and the
little clergeon?
4. How does the maternal function in this
tale? What are mothers like? How do the portrayals of women in general
compare to other portrayals of women we’ve seen?
5. How does this tale “quite” the Shipman’s
Tale?
6. Why does Chaucer assign this tale to the
Prioress? What is the relationship
between teller and tale?
7. What kind of imagery do you find in this
tale? Do you see patterns? How does imagery relate to theme?