1. Compare the Miller’s Tale with either the Reeve’s Tale or the Summoner’s Tale. What are the different characteristics that make each tale a fabliau? Consider comic timing, plot intricacy, and the cast of characters within the tale.
2. Is the Wife of Bath meant
to contradict the misogynist (woman-hating) ideas of her time, or
to uphold them? Use the text to back up your argument.
4. How does Chaucer conceive
of ancient history and belief systems in the Knight’s Tale? How
is his vision anachronistic? How does he attempt to make it less
so? What is the function of time and the seasons in the tale?