English Exam Study Guide
The Canterbury Tales
By: Chaucer
Setting: The Road from London to Canterbury
General Prologue:
• They are going for Abeckett
• Chaucer is the narrator, as an innkeeper/observant pilgrim
• Describes each character: The nun, monk, knight, wife, miller, reeve, pardoner, parson
• The Parson suggests they tell tales. The winner of the best tale would be bought dinner, but those who didn’t participate had to pay more.
The Miller’s Tale:
• Characters: Nicholas (student, talented in affairs, likes the thrill of sex and out-smarting people, stays with John and Allison), Allison (the wife of John, everyone loves her, she cheats), Absalon (works at the church, knows how to annoy people), John (the husband of Allison, carpenter, has cheated before)
• Nicholas and Allison want to get rid of her husband to have sex. Plan: Nicholas will stay in his room for a while and acts weird in front of John, then he tells John a flood will come in a week (John worries for himself and Allison). Nick says to get tubs for them to stay in with food for a day. So they get in the tubs and John falls asleep, and Nick and Allison go to bed.
• Absalon, who wants to hook up with Allison, comes by and says all he wants is a kiss and he will go away. Allison makes him kiss her hole.
• Absalon gets mad and goes to Gervase, a blacksmith, and gets a hot iron and this time when Nick sticks his butt out, Absalon burns him with it and Nick cries “WATER”. John thinks the flood is here and releases the ropes on his tub, falls, breaks his arm, and is declared insane.
• Theme: Allison goes un punished, like a man should, controversial
The Wife of Bath’s Prologue:
• She’s been married 5 times, uses the bible to justify this o Most have been controlled/used by her, except two, one who she truly loved but controlled her, he made her deaf (she took his book about worst wives of the world and he slapped her), didn’t have a lot of money (theme: she wanted what she couldn’t have and couldn’t control)
By: Chaucer
Setting: The Road from London to Canterbury
General Prologue:
• They are going for Abeckett
• Chaucer is the narrator, as an innkeeper/observant pilgrim
• Describes each character: The nun, monk, knight, wife, miller, reeve, pardoner, parson
• The Parson suggests they tell tales. The winner of the best tale would be bought dinner, but those who didn’t participate had to pay more.
The Miller’s Tale:
• Characters: Nicholas (student, talented in affairs, likes the thrill of sex and out-smarting people, stays with John and Allison), Allison (the wife of John, everyone loves her, she cheats), Absalon (works at the church, knows how to annoy people), John (the husband of Allison, carpenter, has cheated before)
• Nicholas and Allison want to get rid of her husband to have sex. Plan: Nicholas will stay in his room for a while and acts weird in front of John, then he tells John a flood will come in a week (John worries for himself and Allison). Nick says to get tubs for them to stay in with food for a day. So they get in the tubs and John falls asleep, and Nick and Allison go to bed.
• Absalon, who wants to hook up with Allison, comes by and says all he wants is a kiss and he will go away. Allison makes him kiss her hole.
• Absalon gets mad and goes to Gervase, a blacksmith, and gets a hot iron and this time when Nick sticks his butt out, Absalon burns him with it and Nick cries “WATER”. John thinks the flood is here and releases the ropes on his tub, falls, breaks his arm, and is declared insane.
• Theme: Allison goes un punished, like a man should, controversial
The Wife of Bath’s Prologue:
• She’s been married 5 times, uses the bible to justify this o Most have been controlled/used by her, except two, one who she truly loved but controlled her, he made her deaf (she took his book about worst wives of the world and he slapped her), didn’t have a lot of money (theme: she wanted what she couldn’t have and couldn’t control)