Geoffrey Chaucer

a cura di R. Beolè
 
 A group of pilgrims are on their way to Canterbury to visit Thomas Becket's shrine. They decide that each of them will tell a story of their own. A cross-section of the 14thcentury society, realistically highlighted in the General Prologue, and in tales such as The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale, The Wife of Bath's Tale, The Merchant's Tale and The Pardoner's Tale.
 A historical and linguistic presentation introduces the book; stimulating closer examinations enrich each tale.
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Summing-up Activities
 
 Sulla strada verso Canterbury, in visita al santuario di Thomas Becket, un gruppo di pellegrini decide di raccontare ognuno una propria storia. Uno spaccato della società inglese del XIV secolo, evidenziato realisticamente nel General Prologue e da racconti quali The Knight’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Merchant’s Tale e The Pardoner’s Tale. Arricchiscono il reader l’introduzione al periodo e all’opera, e approfondimenti sulle tematiche presenti nei vari racconti.

Introduction to The Canterbury Tales

General Prologue

Extension: Medieval pilgrimages

Tale 1 – The Knight’s Tale

Extension: The Knight

Tale 2 – The Miller’s Tale

Extension: The fabliau

Tale 3 – The Wife of Bath (Prologue and Tale)

Extension: The loathly lady

Tale 4 – The Merchant’s Tale

Extension: Trade in the Middle Ages

Tale 5 – The Pardoner’s Tale

Extension: Stage and film adaptations

Summing-up activities

Glossary

S U M M I N G - U P AC T I V I T I E S WORKING ON THE TEXT 1 Answer the following questions. a. Why are the pilgrims going to Canterbury? b. Which pilgrim carries a brooch inscribed with Latin words meaning  Love Conquers All ? c. Who marries Emily in The Knight s Tale? d. What is The Wife of Bath s Prologue about? e. According to the Wife of Bath, what do women most desire? f. Which tale includes a blind man? g. Who are the three men searching for in The Pardoner s Tale? h. Who is branded by a red-hot poker in The Miller s Tale? i. Which of the following tales is a fabliau? The Knight s Tale The Wife of Bath s Tale The Miller s Tale j. Why does the Pardoner upset the Host? 2 Complete the following summaries. General Prologue At the Tabard Inn, a tavern in Southwark, London, the narrator joins a company of (1)................................... pilgrims. The pilgrims, like the narrator, are travelling to the shrine of (2)........................................ in Canterbury. The (3)............................. suggests that the group ride together and entertain each other with (4)................................ . He decides that each pilgrim will tell (5)................................ stories on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back. The best storyteller will receive a (6)............................. at Bailey s tavern as a prize. The pilgrims (7)............................. and decide that the Knight will tell the first tale. The Knight s Tale (8).................................., Duke of Athens, imprisons Arcite and Palamon, two knights from Thebes. From their (9)............................. , the knights see and fall in love with Theseus  (10).........................., Emily. Arcite is freed, but banished from (11)........................................ . He returns as a servant and becomes Emily s (12).............................. . Palamon escapes from prison, the two meet and fight over Emily. Theseus arranges a (13)............................ between the two knights, with Emily as the prize. (14).......................... wins, but is accidentally thrown from his horse and dies. (15).......................... marries Emily. 86 

The Miller s Tale A (16)............................... called Nicholas persuades his landlord s young wife, Alison, to spend the night with him. He convinces his landlord, a (17)..........................., named John, to spend the night in a (18)............................ hanging from the roof because a (19)............................... is coming. Absolon, a parish clerk who also loves Alison, appears outside the window of the room where Nicholas and Alison are sleeping together. When Absolon begs Alison for a (20)..............................., the window and he kisses it. Absolon gets a she puts her bottom out (21)..............................., returns to the window, and asks for another kiss; (22).................................. offers his bottom out the window and farts; Absolon burns him. Nicholas cries for (23).............................., the carpenter thinks that the flood has come, falls to the ground, and breaks his (24)............................... . The Wife of Bath s Tale A (25)............................... of King Arthur s court rapes a woman. Arthur s Queen sends him on a quest to discover what (26).................................. want most. An ugly old (27)................................ promises the knight that she will tell him the answer if he promises to do whatever she wants. He (28)............................., and she tells him that women want (29).............................. of their husbands and their own lives. They go together to the Queen, and the old woman then tells the knight that he must (30)............................. her. Then she gives him a (31)...............................: she can either be ugly and faithful, or beautiful and unfaithful. The knight tells her to make the choice herself, and she rewards him by making herself both beautiful and faithful. The Merchant s Tale Against the advice of his (32)...................................., an old knight named January marries May, a beautiful young woman. She is in love with his (33)........................................, (34).............................., she Damian. When blind January takes May into his tells him she wants to eat (35)............................... from a pear-tree, January helps her up into the tree, where she has sex with Damian. (36).............................. restores January s sight and he sees the two, but May manages to convince him that what he saw was only his imagination. 87 

Esplora i racconti dei pellegrini verso Canterbury e la società inglese del XIV secolo, arricchiti da approfondimenti storici e tematici.

The Canterbury Tales Collana RAINBOWS

Level B1 • Pre-Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

The Canterbury Tales

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