Honors English 12 Study Guide

Possible Identifications:

Thomas Becket
Arthur
Gawain
Mordred
Guenevere
Lancelot
Bedivere
Lucan
The Green Knight
Bercilak
The Lady of the Castle
The Wife of Bath
The Pardoner
The Manciple
Janekin
Phoebus
King Midas
Death
Barbara Allen
John Graeme


physiognomy
fabliau
frame
literary confession or apology
exemplum
allegory
medieval romance
courtly love
gentility
chivalry
folk ballad



Short answer questions:

1. Trace the steps in the Wife of Bath's arguments for the rightness of marriage (and, specifically, of her own five marriages). How does she use written authorities to support her own actions and world view? Based upon her own accounts and Chaucer's portrait of her in the General Prologue, what precisely is the Wife of Bath's "experience"? Given that there was a medieval tradition of extremely misogynistic writings, how can we understand the Wife of Bath as a defender of her sex? Why would women be particularly concerned with having experience recognized as carrying its own weight and authority?

2. What is the symbolism of the three beasts hunted by Bercilak? Which is most dangerous? Is there a relationship between the hunting exploits of Bercilak and the different sort of "hunt" going on in the bedroom? To what extent are the bedroom scenes a duel of chivalry?

3. Does the Green Knight play by the rules of chivalry? Is he ultimately a negative or a positive figure? At the end of the poem, the Green Knight declares that Gawain is the best of all Arthurian knights; this opinion is shared by the Arthurian court but not by Gawain. Why does he think so? Why does Gawain disagree?

4. What promises are made by Gawain? Which does he keep? What lesson(s) does Gawain learn from his ordeal? What elements of chivalry are tried?

5. What seem to be the motives offered for the pilgrimage that is about to begin in "The General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales? In what way are the season and the nature imagery important factors? What is the relationship between fertility and religion?

6. Briefly explain how two of the three digressions in "The Wife of Bath's Tale" help develop the tale's overall theme.

7. How might you defend the Pardoner not as a good person but as a good preacher? What effect does Chaucer create with this discrepancy?

8. Note the destruction and self-destruction committed by Phoebus in "The Manciple's Tale." What comment is Chaucer making by having the god of poetry commit destructive acts?

9. How is the crow in "The Manciple's Tale" like each pilgrim on the way to Canterbury? What is Chaucer's message on the telling of tales? How is this advice ironic?

10. What can be learned about the nature of love from "Barbara Allen," "Lord Randall," and "Twa Corbies"? What is the theory of companionship in each ballad?