The Canterbury Tales Flashcards
Amity
A friendly relationship
Betray
To expose to danger by treacherously giving info to an enemy
Boon
A thing that is helpful or beneficial
Buffoon
A ridiculous but amusing person; a clown
Clemency
Mercy; lenience
Conundrum
A confusing and difficult problem or question
Conveyance
The action or process of transporting someone or something from one place to another
Iniquity
Immoral or grossly unfair behavior
Lamentation
The passionate expression of grief or sorrow; weeping
Miscreant
A person who behaves badly or in a way that breaks the law
Prescience
The fact of knowing something before it takes place; foreknowledge
Prevarication
To avoid telling the truth by not directly answering a question
Prattle
To talk at length in a foolish manner
Recrimination
An accusation in response to one from someone else
Screeds
A long speech or piece of writing, typically one regarded as tedious
Sundry
Various kinds; several
Superfluities
An unnecessarily or excessively large amount or number of something
Sycophant
A person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain an advantage
Temporal
Relating to worldly as opposed to spiritual affairs; secular
Tithes
1/10 of annual produce of earnings; formerly taken as a tax for the church and clergy
Transmutation
The action of changing is the state of being changed into another form
Wimpled
A woman’s headcloth drawn in folds about the chin; formerly worn outdoors; still used by some nuns
Irony
The use of words to convey a meaning that is opposite of its true meaning
Situational irony
When something unexpected occurs
Verbal irony
Occurs when the speaker says the opposite of what he/she means
He was a master-hand at stealing grain and he told filthy tavern stories; a chap of sixteen stone
The Miller
A poor, holy-minded man who truly knows Christ’s Gospel?
The Parson
Somewhat deaf, gap-toothed, and large in the hips (Kyrie)
A woman from Bath
He was Epicurus’s very son; a pleasure seeker
Franklin
Suggests that they all yell tell two stories each coming and going from Canterbury
The Host
Sold pieces of the mast from St. Peter’s ship and sang the Offertory for money
The Pardoner
Wore a brooch that says “Love conquers all”.
The nun
He heard confessions for a fee and knew all the taverns and bar maids
The Friar
Followed chivalry, truth, generousness, and courtesy
The Knight
Hunting was his sport; a good man to his horse; took the worlds more spacious way
The Monk
He spent his money on learning and buying books
The Oxford Cleric
An honest worker, good and true, living in peace and perfect charity
The Plowman
