Context

Question 1

This is one of the wives in the previous tales, she has been married 5 times and justifies it by claiming God instructed her to multiply…yeah right girl good excuse. Her story is abt a night who rapes a girl and is sentenced to death unless he can find out what women rlly want (men to be gone lol, jk!). An old women tells him women want sovereignty over their husbands but now he has to marry her. It sets a critique of idealised marriage and the pitfalls of desire

Answer 1

The Wife Of Bath

Question 2

This tale tells the story of Griselda who is extremely loyal to her husband which acts as a contrast to Mays disobedient behaviour

Answer 2

The Clerks Tale

Question 3

A genre, a short humorous story that often includes middle to lower class characters and focuses on themes of trickery. It is a comedic reflection of the merchants own cynical view of marriage making the take a comedic reflection of his dissolution ment with romantic life

Answer 3

Fabliau

Question 4

Two different types of sin. One severs the relationship with God, the other lesser so. St Augustine’s writings on the lesser sin suggest that humans are flawed due to original sin.

Answer 4

Mortal and Venial Sin

Question 5

The churches view of marriage is seen as a sacrament and life long commitment Mays infidelity can be seen as her perusing original sin. Chaucer shows here that the misuse of theology is prevalent in society

Answer 5

Theology

Question 6

This is an old French poetic genre which celebrates the arrival of spring and can often symbolise beautiful women. The opening of the tales constitutes a learned version of this poem and are thus in the background of readers minds.

Answer 6

Reverdie

Question 7

This character is a functional naive narrator who presents each story without direct criticisms

Answer 7

Chaucer the pilgrim

Question 8

Bible verse- man should have sexual relations with his wife

Answer 8

1 Corinthians 1

Question 9

These are poems by Chaucer which explore themes of love, choice and marriage where the birds select their mates on valentines. Highlights the tension between idealistic and pragmatic views on marriage.

Answer 9

Parliament of fouls

Question 10

Medieval love lyrics! This one shows an idealisation of youth and beauty.

Answer 10

Alisoun

Question 11

A short poem with a humorous and satirical look on marriage

Answer 11

Lenvoy de Chaucer

Question 12

The setting…associated with corrupted regimes. Chaucer visited in 1378

Answer 12

Tyrants of Lombardy

Question 13

This king was corrupted with an authoritative regime…reflects Januarie belief that wealth and power can control people

Answer 13

Richard 2

Question 14

It’s really a monk! But he wrote a book all about how marriage sucks and how men will have no freedom. But the Merchant disagrees with his ideas…

Answer 14

Theophrastus (st Jerome) the golden book of marriage

Question 15

A type of tree that in Greek culture represented victory honor and achievement. Alludes to the blindness of those who are overconfident in their own achievements or status.

Answer 15

Laurel tree

Question 16

Classic tale, but we all know it was really Adam who ate the apple

Answer 16

Adam and Eve

Question 17

Another poem, this time 11th century allegorical one which depicts a debate between wealth and the spender of wealth. Mirrors Januaries transactional approach to marriage.

Answer 17

Wynnere + Wastoure

Question 18

Another person in the bible, this one remains faithful whilst he suffers. Januarie doesn’t exactly follow this example

Answer 18

Job

Question 19

The classic, you go up and then come down just as fast. Everyone is subject to an unpredictable fate.

Answer 19

Rota fortunae

Question 20

I’d love some of this, I need a man to yearn for me! This is a medieval concept of idealised often unattainable love which often involves unrequited love between a lady and and a night

Answer 20

Courtly Love

Question 21

Januaries a Capricorn, May is a Taurus. May’s zodiac sign is dominant during the tale.

Answer 21

Astrology

Question 22

This theory values pleasure

Answer 22

Hedonism/ Epicureanism

Question 23

A passage that praises a marriage as a sacred union which is ironic in this tale

Answer 23

Marriage enconium

Question 24

A garden plays a role a symbol of temptation and a locus amoenus. It can also be a locus horridus. While the garden appears open and inviting it is also a sight of moral corruption

Answer 24

Gardens

Question 25

A pretty sick story, men attempt to spy on women and then wrongfully accuse the girl of adultery. Typical.

Answer 25

Susannah and the elders

Question 26

A lovely poem about an allegorical love dream a man recalls about a walled garden and rose bushes.

Answer 26

Le Roman del a rose

Question 27

A blazon in the bible where 2 lovers compare their love for each other with many comparisons to nature/ uses gardens to symbolise fertility and sensual pleasure

Answer 27

Song of Songs 1.1 - 5.1

Question 28

A god of fertility, gardens and male sexuality. Januaries intense desire can be seen as a reflection of priapic lust

Answer 28

Priapus

Question 29

A medieval astrological illustration with the scorpion reflecting the male penis.

Answer 29

Zodiac man

Question 30

A philosophical idea that you can never experience the world as it truly is

Answer 30

Veil of perception

Question 31

Chaucer was influenced by different renditions of the pear tree. Oriental and classical influences such as Boccacio’s Decameron but chaucers version is different as his characters are more developed and there are external forces

Answer 31

Pear Tree

Question 32

This is fabliau centred around adultery and trickery in marriage. The young wife alisoun deceives her older husband John to continue an affair with Nickolas. Can be seen as a foil to the merchants tale

Answer 32

Millers tale

Question 33

A short comic tale with a bawdy element, like a ‘dirty story’

Answer 33

Fabliau

Question 34

This one is a highly conventionalised medieval tradition of love between a night and a noble women. Romantic, characterised by yearning and beauty

Answer 34

Courtly love

Question 35

A stock character in medieval literature. And old jealous man married to a young women and thus is an object of mockery, later to be cuckolded by a younger man (januarie obvs)

Answer 35

Senex Amans

Question 36

The pilgrim acts as an external story to the merchants tale

Answer 36

Framing device

Question 37

What is the class system in medieval England

Answer 37

Feudal system

Question 38

What classical person influenced Chaucer and was a writer of Italian humanism who write with a similar framing device

Answer 38

Boccaccio

Question 39

What medieval French poem is set in a garden about courtly love and its challenges. An allegorical poem dream vision in which the lover seeks a rose in a garden of pleasure facing various obstacles and characters along the way

Answer 39

Roman del a Rose by Guillaume

Question 40

What book suggests women are untrustworthy and are only after men’s money. It is this book that the Merchant advises his listeners to defy the author in support of marriage

Answer 40

Golden book of marriage by Theophrastus (St Jerome)

Question 41

The setting is incredibly tyrannical. Chaucer visited in 1378 and experienced a regime of absolutism and brutality

Answer 41

Lombardy Italy