Canterbury Tales

Question 1

Story that teaches a lesson about good and evil

Answer 1

Moral Tale

Question 2

Has a goat-like voice, collects money to absolve people of their sins, carries a bunch of fake relics

Answer 2

The Pardoner

Question 3

When the audience knows something that the characters do not

Answer 3

Dramatic Irony

Question 4

Number of stories Chaucer intended to write in The Canterbury Tales

Answer 4

120

Question 5

A story within a story

Answer 5

Frame story

Question 6

When someone says something but means the opposite

Answer 6

Verbal irony

Question 7

This character was married and widowed five times

Answer 7

The Wife of Bath

Question 8

In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” 3 men set out to find…

Answer 8

death

Question 9

What happens to the 3 rioters in “The Pardoner’s Tale”?

Answer 9

Two of them stab one man to death and then drink the poison he was intending to use to kill them.

Question 10

The old man in “The Pardoner’s Tale” represents…

Answer 10

Death personified

Question 11

Personification is

Answer 11

when human attributes are given to nonhuman objects

Question 12

The knight in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is guilty of

Answer 12

raping a woman

Question 13

The knight in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is going to be beheaded unless he can find out

Answer 13

what women really want

Question 14

The Wife of Bath shows her dislike for the Catholic Church at the beginning of her story when she talks about

Answer 14

friars breaking their vows of chastity and attacking women.

Question 15

The Wife of Bath is deaf because

Answer 15

she was severely beaten by one of her husbands

Question 16

The pilgrims mentioned in the General Prologue are going on a pilgrimage to

Answer 16

Canterbury to honor Thomas Becket

Question 17

The most honorable of all of the pilgrims is

Answer 17

The Plowman

Question 18

What are the terms of the contest involving the pilgrims?

Answer 18

They will all tell 4 stories total (2 on the way to Canterbury and 2 back). Whoever tells the story with the best moral and entertainment value will win dinner and wine provided by the rest of the group.

Question 19

What is the penalty for not participating in the contest?

Answer 19

Anyone not participating will have to pay for other’s travel expenses

Question 20

The Wife of Bath ends her story by hoping that God will send to all women husband who are

Answer 20

young and meek towards their wives or who will otherwise die quickly

Question 21

The message of “The Pardoner’s Tale” is

Answer 21

“The love of money is the root of all evil.”

Question 22

What does the Pardoner do after telling his tale?

Answer 22

Try to convince people to pay him money to absolve them of their sins.

Question 23

Why is the Wife of Bath so knowledgeable about the Bible and other religious literature?

Answer 23

One of her husbands used to quote it while beating her.

Question 24

Cheats people out of grain

Answer 24

The Miller

Question 25

Is in cahoots with the apothecaries

Answer 25

The Physician

Question 26

Honorable and chivalrous, has fought in many lands

Answer 26

The Knight

Question 27

Hands out court papers calling people to the ecclesiastical court

Answer 27

The Summoner

Question 28

Gluttonous, wears a pin that says “Love Conquers All”

Answer 28

The Prioress

Question 29

What is Chaucer’s view of the Catholic Church?

Answer 29

It is corrupt and greedy

Question 30

When were The Canterbury Tales written?

Answer 30

In the late 1400s