Context

Question 1

Who is THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS written as an elegy for?

Answer 1

Blanche of Lancaster, John of Gaunt’s first wife

Question 2

When did Blanche of Lancaster die?

Answer 2

1368

Question 3

Who was Chaucer’s wife?

Answer 3

Philippa Roet

Question 4

How did Chaucer know John of Gaunt?

Answer 4

Close friends- Chaucer served under his patronage- near end of their lives, they became brothers-in-law- Lancaster married Philippa’s sister

Question 5

Which late 12th century poet had a huge influence on lais?

Answer 5

Marie de France

Question 6

What does Kathryn Hume argue are the typical features of a Breton Lai?

Answer 6

A concern with LOVE and what the Franklin calls GENTILESSE; magic (both faerie and other); an a-Christian ethic

Question 7

What does Kathryn Hume also acknowledge as important parts of the Breton Lais?

Answer 7

love-interest; promises

Question 8

How many of the other extant Middle English lais were written around the same time as THE FRANKLIN’S TALE, according to Kathryn Hume?

Answer 8

4/7

Question 9

Which simple exemplum does Katie Homar acknowledge Chaucer built the FRIAR’S on?

Answer 9

Robert Rypon’s THE GREEDY BAILIFF

Question 10

What is the discussion about demonology between the summoner and the devil-yeoman called in the FRIAR’S?

Answer 10

Scole matere section

Question 11

Which tales are based on stories which also appear in John Gower’s “Confessio Amantis”?

Answer 11

MAN OF LAW’S; WIFE OF BATH’S; PHYSICIAN’S; MANCIPLE’S

Question 12

What is the name of the story collection that John Gower published?

Answer 12

CONFESSIO AMANTIS

Question 13

When did John Gower complete “Confessio Amantis” in its first form?

Answer 13

1390

Question 14

Whose tale is it generally accepted that the Man of Law tells in earlier drafts?

Answer 14

The Tale of Melibee

Question 15

Whose tale did the Wife of Bath apparently tell in early drafts?

Answer 15

The Shipman’s Tale

Question 16

What is the biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader called?

Answer 16

Hagiography

Question 17

Where does Chaucer use rime royal?

Answer 17

Troilus and Criseyde; Man of Law’s; Clerk’s; Prioress’s; Second Nun’s; ANELIDA AND ARCITE; The Parliament of Fowls; number of shorter poems

Question 18

Which tales are part of the ‘Marriage Group’?

Answer 18

Wife of Bath’s; Clerk’s; Merchant’s; Franklin’s

Question 19

Which tales out of the ‘Marriage Group’ directly cite the Wife of Bath?

Answer 19

Clerk’s; Merchant’s

Question 20

Which tales are the most elaborately ornamented productions?

Answer 20

Merchant’s; Squire’s

Question 21

Which tale does The Clerk’s Tale largely resemble?

Answer 21

Man of Law’s- the story of Custance/the tale of Griselda

Question 22

Which biblical character does Griselda in The Clerk’s Tale resemble?

Answer 22

Job

Question 23

What rhyme scheme does Chaucer use for most of his tales of pathos?

Answer 23

Rime royal

Question 24

What is unusual about the structure of The Clerk’s Tale?

Answer 24

It is followed by an envoi

Question 25

Which tale was apparently composed as a companion piece to The Clerk's?

Answer 25

Merchant's

Question 26

How are the Squire and the Knight related?

Answer 26

The Knight is the Squire's father

Question 27

Which famous literary figure was convinced that Chaucer intended to finish The Squire's Tale?

Answer 27

John Milton

Question 28

Which tale attracted much attention from writers in the Elizabethan period?

Answer 28

Squire's- Milton; Edmund Spenser; John Lane

Question 29

Which tales are characterised by affecting scenes of parents and children?

Answer 29

Physician's; Man of Law's; Clerk's; Prioress'; Ugolino episode in Monk's

Question 30

Which tales were likely written before Chaucer had conceptualised the wider framework?

Answer 30

Knight's; Second Nun's; Monk's?; Physician's?

Question 31

When were the Jews banished from England?

Answer 31

1290

Question 32

Which two tales does the pilgrim Chaucer tell?

Answer 32

Sir Thopas; The Tale of Melibee

Question 33

How many pilgrims are there in the General Prologue?

Answer 33

29

Question 34

How many tales are there?

Answer 34

24

Question 35

Which tale does Melibee share many lines with?

Answer 35

Merchant's

Question 36

How many short stories are included in Monk's?

Answer 36

17

Question 37

Which important date features in both The Knight's and The Nun's Priest's?

Answer 37

3 May

Question 38

What does the Nun's Priest spin his tale out with many of?

Answer 38

An excursus

Question 39

What were the 3 medieval social estates?

Answer 39

Clergy; nobility; commoners/peasantry

Question 40

Which king did Chaucer write during the reign of?

Answer 40

Richard II

Question 41

When do people usually deduce that THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS was written?

Answer 41

Between 1369-72

Question 42

What form are both THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS and THE HOUSE OF FAME written in?

Answer 42

Octosyllabic (rhyming?) couplets

Question 43

What is usually the suggested date for the composition of THE HOUSE OF FAME?

Answer 43

1379-80

Question 44

Which book is the dreamer reading at the beginning of THE HOUSE OF FAME?

Answer 44

Aeneid

Question 45

Which book is the dreamer reading at the beginning of THE PARLIAMENT OF FOWLS?

Answer 45

Cicero's SOMNIUM SCIPIONIS- "Dream of Scipio"

Question 46

Rime royal stanza

Answer 46

7 lines; usually iambic pentameter; ABABBCC; can be constructed either as a tercet and 2 couplets, or as a quatrain and a couplet- this allows for variety

Question 47

Which stanza did Chaucer potentially adapt the rime royal from?

Answer 47

Boccaccio's OTTAVA RIMA

Question 48

What historical event does THE PARLIAMENT OF FOWLS potentially concern?

Answer 48

Negotiations in 1380 for the betrothal of Richard II to Anne of Bohemia

Question 49

Envoy

Answer 49

a short stanza at the end of a poem such as ballad used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem

Question 50

Which book is the dreamer reading at the beginning of THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS?

Answer 50

Metamorphoses

Question 51

What is the form of the Knight's song for his lost love in THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS?

Answer 51

Complaint- a medieval literary form- usually a short, sometimes musical poem, sung by a lover about his loss of a love, essentially a lyric genre

Question 52

What is the top-to-bottom description of the Knight's lady in THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS called?

Answer 52

A blazon

Question 53

What do the birds at the end of THE PARLIAMENT OF FOWLS sing?

Answer 53

A roundel

Question 54

What form is Chaucer credited with bringing into English?

Answer 54

Rime royal