“The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales 1
Name ____________________________________
Mrs. Unger
English IV AP/GT
Date _________________
“The Prologue” to
Activities:
1st Activity: Read “The Prologue” from
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey
Chaucer, pages 140-162.
2nd Activity: Answer the critical thinking
questions on this handout.
The Canterbury Tales
1. What is the main point of lines 1-18?
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2. Why might the urge to go on a pilgrimage hit people in spring?
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3. How did Thomas à Becket’s life end?
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4. Give just the facts.
Using the information in the textbook above the Prologue, answer the
following:
 The Prologue is Chaucer’s brilliant picture of what?
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 The Prologue is the concise portrait of what?
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 The Prologue presents characters who appear how?
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Using the information from the Prologue, answer the following:
 In which hostelry did the narrator-poet stay? ____________ (line ___)
 How many pilgrims arrived? ____________ (line ___)
 What adjective is used to describe the pilgrims? ____________ (line
___25)
 What does that adjective mean? _______________
 What are stations in life? ________________________
 What are stages in life? ________________________
 Therefore, the storytellers represent whom? ____________
 How do many of the people on the tour travel? ____________
 How does this part of the poem begin as opposed to the rest of the
poem? What is this part named? ________________________
 Who do the authorities in literature actually suspect the poet-pilgrim
narrator to be? ____________
 Why do the pilgrims tell stories? ________________________
“The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales 2

How is the motivation for telling their stories similar to Mary Shelley’s
writing of Frankenstein?
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5. Compare the original with the translation in lines 19-26. Which rhymes are
preserved, even though pronunciations differ today? Remember to put the
line numbers in parentheses.
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6. How difficult a time did the narrator-poet have with becoming friends with the
pilgrims?
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7. HISTORICAL CONNECTION: The Knight is a brave and distinguished man
for fighting in wars which spanned forty years. During this period, the West
followed the Church’s lead and condemned the enemies as infidels or
pagans, those who did not believe in Christ. Also, the Knight, as Chaucer
portrays him here, is an anachronistic figure, for the feudal order with its
emphasis on chivalry had all but disappeared by Chaucer’s time. What does
anachronistic mean? ___________________________________________
8. What qualities does the Knight possess that are perhaps different than one
would expect from a veteran soldier who had been fighting for forty year?
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9. Those qualities of the Knight are told directly by Chaucer. In the following
lines, Chaucer used indirect characterization. What does he reveal indirectly
and how does he accomplish that?
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10. How does the Squire contrast with his father? Why is he so different?
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11. How well trained is the Squire?
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“The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales 3
12. Who is the next character introduced by the narrator? How indicates that he
is more accustomed to being in the forests than in the big city?
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13. Which female character is introduced next? [A prioress is in charge of the
nuns.] Which characteristic describes her in name, voice, and table manners?
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14. When she swears to St. Loy, the narrator-poet is showing some humor
because St. Loy was the patron saint of goldsmiths. What kind of jewelry
does she wear? Which would be characteristic of her station in life and which
would be uncharacteristic? Why?
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15. Who goes along with her from her cell? Who else accompanies her as well?
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16. The Monk may not be a bad man but he is not a good Monk. Why?
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17. Why is it ironic that the Monk is fat?
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18. Unlike monks, who lived in monasteries, friars went into the world as beggars
to preach, help the poor, and cure the sick. How does Chaucer characterize
the Friar?
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19. In lines 259-264, what is the poet’s tone? How does he exhibit that attitude
and why?
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“The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales 4
Briefly describe each of the following characters.
20. The Merchant
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21. The Oxford Cleric
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22. The Serjeant at the Law
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23. a Franklin
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24. A Haberdasher, a Dyer, A Carpenter, a Weaver, and a Carpet-maker
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25. A Cook
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26. A Skipper
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27. A Doctor
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28. The Wife of Bath
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“The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales 5
29. The Parson
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30. A Plowman
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31. A Miller
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32. A College Manciple
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33. A Reeve
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34. A Church-Court Summoner
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35. A Pardoner
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36. Our Host
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