UNIT I - PROLOGUE TO CANTERBURY TALES OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS
📘 Unit I – Lesson 1: Geoffrey Chaucer – Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
1. Who is known as the Father of English Poetry?
A) William Shakespeare
B) Geoffrey Chaucer ✅
C) Edmund Spenser
D) John Milton
➡️ Chaucer is celebrated for using English
vernacular in serious poetry.
2. What is the literary form of The Canterbury Tales?
A) Epic poem
B) Frame narrative ✅
C) Dramatic monologue
D) Allegory
➡️ It's a story-within-a-story structure where
pilgrims tell tales.
3. What season is described at the beginning of the Prologue?
A) Winter
B) Spring ✅
C) Summer
D) Autumn
➡️ April is mentioned, symbolizing renewal and
travel.
4. How many pilgrims are introduced in the Prologue?
A) 29 ✅
B) 31
C) 24
D) 26
➡️ 29 plus Chaucer himself as narrator.
5. What are pilgrims traveling to Canterbury to see?
A) King’s court
B) A festival
C) The shrine of Thomas Becket ✅
D) A monastery
➡️ Thomas Becket, the “holy blissful martyr.”
6. The Knight is described as:
A) Cruel and boastful
B) Modest and chivalrous ✅
C) Rich and greedy
D) Cowardly
➡️ He is praised for his honor and nobility.
7. Who is described as having a forked beard and motley dress?
A) The Friar
B) The Summoner
C) The Merchant ✅
D) The Pardoner
➡️ The Merchant's physical description reflects
duplicity.
8. The Clerk of Oxford loves:
A) Teaching
B) Horses
C) Books and learning ✅
D) Hunting
➡️ He would rather have books than luxury.
9. The Wife of Bath has had how many husbands?
A) 3
B) 5 ✅
C) 2
D) 4
➡️ She is portrayed as experienced in both
marriage and travel.
10. Which pilgrim is skilled in surgery and astronomy?
A) The Summoner
B) The Physician ✅
C) The Reeve
D) The Pardoner
➡️ The Physician uses astrology in his diagnosis.
11. Which character is known for his greed and fake holy relics?
A) The Friar
B) The Pardoner ✅
C) The Monk
D) The Merchant
➡️ He sells indulgences and fake relics for
profit.
12. Chaucer’s narrator claims to:
A) Judge the pilgrims
B) Simply report what he sees ✅
C) Criticize their sins
D) Teach a moral lesson
➡️ He claims neutrality, though irony is often
present.
13. The Miller is described as:
A) Noble and wise
B) Honest and gentle
C) Boastful and crude ✅
D) A man of letters
➡️ He tells bawdy tales and is loud and vulgar.
14. Which pilgrim could sing and play the flute well?
A) The Clerk
B) The Squire ✅
C) The Knight
D) The Parson
➡️ The Squire is artistic and romantic.
15. Which religious figure is portrayed positively?
A) The Pardoner
B) The Summoner
C) The Monk
D) The Parson ✅
➡️ The Parson is humble and devout.
16. The Monk prefers:
A) Poverty and prayer
B) Hunting and luxury ✅
C) Teaching and charity
D) Preaching and fasting
➡️ Chaucer satirizes his worldly lifestyle.
17. The Summoner’s physical features are:
A) Handsome
B) Angelic
C) Repulsive and covered in pimples ✅
D) Slim and elegant
➡️ Chaucer’s satire connects appearance with
corruption.
18. The Reeve is skilled as a:
A) Physician
B) Farmer and estate manager ✅
C) Tax collector
D) Carpenter
➡️ He manages his lord’s estate shrewdly.
19. Who carries a brooch inscribed “Amor vincit omnia”?
A) The Nun ✅
B) The Prioress
C) The Wife of Bath
D) The Squire
➡️ The Nun (Prioress) wears this—Love Conquers
All.
20. The Friar is most interested in:
A) Religious duty
B) Poverty
C) Wealthy people and women ✅
D) Preaching only to the poor
➡️ He prefers those who can pay for his services.
21. Which character is fluent in law but not very moral?
A) The Franklin
B) The Sergeant-at-law ✅
C) The Reeve
D) The Clerk
➡️ He’s respected but seems corrupt beneath the
surface.
22. The Franklin is described as:
A) Miserly
B) Generous and indulgent ✅
C) Religious
D) Stern
➡️ He loves pleasure and hospitality.
23. Which group of pilgrims travel together and show upward mobility?
A) Religious leaders
B) Military men
C) Guildsmen ✅
D) Criminals
➡️ They’re tradesmen climbing the social ladder.
24. Who is the Host of the pilgrimage?
A) Chaucer
B) The Reeve
C) Harry Bailey ✅
D) The Friar
➡️ He owns the Tabard Inn and organizes the
tale-telling contest.
25. What is the prize for the best tale?
A) A silver cross
B) A return trip
C) A free meal ✅
D) A gold ring
➡️ The Host offers a free supper at his inn.
26. Which character tells bawdy tales and plays the bagpipes?
A) The Pardoner
B) The Miller ✅
C) The Reeve
D) The Summoner
➡️ The Miller is lewd and boisterous, entertaining
with vulgar humor.
27. What does Chaucer use to describe each pilgrim?
A) Formal records
B) Dialogues
C) Vivid physical and behavioral details ✅
D) Genealogies
➡️ Each portrait is rich with physical, social,
and moral clues.
28. Which character is a student from Oxford?
A) The Clerk ✅
B) The Lawyer
C) The Squire
D) The Parson
➡️ The Clerk values knowledge over material
wealth.
29. Which character loves gold and practices medicine?
A) The Reeve
B) The Summoner
C) The Physician ✅
D) The Pardoner
➡️ The Physician uses astrology and seeks profit.
30. The Pardoner claims to possess:
A) Holy relics ✅
B) Royal jewels
C) Church donations
D) Legal writs
➡️ He sells fake relics to the gullible.
31. Which figure is characterized by extreme gluttony and redness?
A) The Reeve
B) The Pardoner
C) The Summoner ✅
D) The Friar
➡️ The Summoner’s red face and love of garlic
signify his moral corruption.
32. What is Chaucer’s tone toward his characters?
A) Bitter
B) Admiring
C) Neutral with satire ✅
D) Reverent
➡️ Chaucer uses gentle irony and satire, not harsh
judgment.
33. Which character is described as a “perfect gentle knight”?
A) The Squire
B) The Merchant
C) The Knight ✅
D) The Friar
➡️ The Knight is honorable, brave, and chivalrous.
34. The Squire is the son of:
A) The Knight ✅
B) The Merchant
C) The Parson
D) The Franklin
➡️ He is youthful, artistic, and serves his
father.
35. Which pilgrim has a gap in her teeth and is “somewhat deaf”?
A) The Nun
B) The Wife of Bath ✅
C) The Prioress
D) The Second Nun
➡️ The Wife of Bath is bold, experienced, and
assertive.
36. What does the Prioress (Nun) value most?
A) French language
B) Table manners and courtly behavior ✅
C) Prayer
D) Farming
➡️ She’s more refined than religious.
37. Who is the most genuinely pious pilgrim?
A) The Monk
B) The Pardoner
C) The Parson ✅
D) The Summoner
➡️ The Parson is moral, sincere, and poor in
wealth but rich in virtue.
38. The Friar is satirized for:
A) Hunting
B) Selling relics
C) Seducing women and taking money ✅
D) Preaching excessively
➡️ He manipulates people and ignores vows of
poverty.
39. The Merchant talks of:
A) War and victory
B) Love and marriage
C) Trade and foreign policy ✅
D) Prayer and devotion
➡️ Yet ironically, he’s secretly in debt.
40. The Cook is known for:
A) Clean food
B) Delicious pies
C) A sore on his shin ✅
D) Poor taste
➡️ This physical flaw satirizes his profession.
41. The Shipman is described as:
A) A thief and a pirate ✅
B) A nobleman
C) A soldier
D) A navigator
➡️ He is rough, steals wine, and lacks a moral
compass.
42. The Franklin’s main trait is:
A) Greed
B) Honesty
C) Hospitality and pleasure ✅
D) Wrath
➡️ He lives for food, wine, and joy.
43. What does the Guildsmen’s presence signify?
A) Decline of feudalism ✅
B) War preparations
C) Rise of aristocracy
D) Power of the Church
➡️ They represent the growing middle class.
44. The Manciple is cleverer than:
A) The Knight
B) His masters ✅
C) The Clerk
D) The Summoner
➡️ He buys wisely and outsmarts the lawyers he
serves.
45. The Reeve is formerly a:
A) Lawyer
B) Farmer
C) Carpenter ✅
D) Monk
➡️ He is efficient, feared, and knows every trick
of estate management.
46. The Host is:
A) Chaucer himself
B) The narrator
C) The man who proposes the storytelling contest ✅
D) The judge of the tales
➡️ Harry Bailey owns the Tabard Inn and sets the
rules.
47. Chaucer uses irony especially to describe:
A) The Parson
B) The Nun, Monk, and Friar ✅
C) The Knight
D) The Squire
➡️ He contrasts their behavior with their
religious roles.
48. The Pardoner's theme of preaching is often:
A) Honesty
B) Forgiveness
C) Greed is the root of all evil ✅
D) Purity
➡️ He preaches against greed, ironically as a
greedy man himself.
49. What kind of tales do the pilgrims plan to tell?
A) Love stories
B) Historical narratives
C) Tales of morality and entertainment ✅
D) Biographies
➡️ They are meant to amuse and instruct.
50. What does the Host offer the winning storyteller?
A) A religious gift
B) A place at court
C) A supper at his inn ✅
D) A title
➡️ Hospitality is his reward.
51. Chaucer's tone toward hypocrisy is:
A) Harsh and condemning
B) Neutral
C) Mildly ironic and satirical ✅
D) Fully approving
➡️ He exposes flaws with wit, not aggression.
52. Which character is most admired without irony?
A) The Knight ✅
B) The Merchant
C) The Friar
D) The Monk
➡️ Chaucer’s respect is sincere and
straightforward here.
53. Which tale-teller is most associated with sensuality and feminism?
A) The Prioress
B) The Wife of Bath ✅
C) The Nun
D) The Host
➡️ She boldly discusses marriage, desire, and
power.
54. The Monk is criticized for:
A) Reading too much
B) Breaking monastic rules ✅
C) Being poor
D) Being too quiet
➡️ He enjoys hunting and luxury, against religious
vows.
55. The Pardoner’s profession is to:
A) Hear confessions
B) Administer justice
C) Sell indulgences and relics ✅
D) Perform marriages
➡️ He is a Church official exploiting faith for
money.
56. The Parson is compared to:
A) A sinful shepherd
B) A poor but good shepherd ✅
C) A knight
D) A merchant
➡️ He’s the ideal religious figure—humble and
devoted.
57. The Friar arranges marriages for women he has:
A) Never met
B) Converted
C) Confessed
D) Seduced ✅
➡️ This scandalous detail is an example of
Chaucer’s satire.
58. Which character is described as being good at his job but feared?
A) The Cook
B) The Reeve ✅
C) The Squire
D) The Clerk
➡️ The Reeve knows all trades and is strict and
suspicious.
59. Who would rather spend money on books than clothes?
A) The Clerk ✅
B) The Merchant
C) The Reeve
D) The Parson
➡️ He is poor but values learning above all else.
60. Which character is extremely dainty in her manners and speaks
French?
A) The Wife of Bath
B) The Nun (Prioress) ✅
C) The Pardoner
D) The Squire
➡️ Her polished behavior is comically exaggerated.
61. The Tabard Inn is located in:
A) London
B) Southwark ✅
C) York
D) Canterbury
➡️ This is the starting point of the pilgrimage.
62. Chaucer's Prologue primarily uses which verse form?
A) Free verse
B) Heroic couplets ✅
C) Blank verse
D) Rhyme royal
➡️ The rhymed iambic pentameter is dominant.
63. What is the Pardoner's hair like?
A) Short and black
B) Shaven
C) Long, yellow, and waxy ✅
D) Curly and brown
➡️ A physical trait associated with moral decay.
64. The Sergeant-at-law is a:
A) Farmer
B) Rich merchant
C) Skilled lawyer ✅
D) Corrupt priest
➡️ He appears busy but manages little actual work.
65. Chaucer includes himself among the pilgrims as:
A) A judge
B) A storyteller ✅
C) The Host
D) A scribe
➡️ He subtly includes a fictionalized version of
himself.
66. Who draws the lot to tell the first tale?
A) The Knight ✅
B) The Merchant
C) The Cook
D) The Miller
➡️ His tale follows next after the Prologue.
67. The Canon’s Yeoman and Second Nun are introduced in:
A) The General Prologue
B) The Knight’s Tale
C) Later additions ✅
D) The Monk’s Tale
➡️ They appear in supplementary sections.
68. Which character is partly deaf and widely traveled?
A) The Prioress
B) The Wife of Bath ✅
C) The Nun
D) The Pardoner
➡️ She’s been on many pilgrimages and is
outspoken.
69. The Guildsmen’s wives are:
A) Poor
B) Arrogant and ambitious ✅
C) Modest
D) Religious
➡️ They want to rise socially through their
husbands.
70. The Miller’s mouth is compared to a:
A) Oven
B) Furnace
C) Fox
D) Sow or a fox ✅
➡️ This image suggests his loud, coarse nature.
71. The Clerk’s horse is described as:
A) Well-groomed
B) As lean as a rake ✅
C) Noble and strong
D) Tired but sturdy
➡️ Reflects his poverty and simplicity.
72. Who does Chaucer criticize for being a poor spiritual guide?
A) The Reeve
B) The Pardoner ✅
C) The Knight
D) The Squire
➡️ He exploits others under the guise of religion.
73. The Reeve lives in:
A) A monastery
B) The town square
C) A secluded cottage ✅
D) The Guildhall
➡️ He’s private and cunning.
74. The Shipman is from:
A) Dover
B) Dartmouth ✅
C) Southwark
D) Canterbury
➡️ This detail emphasizes his rugged, seafaring
identity.
75. What does the Summoner enjoy eating?
A) Cheese and apples
B) Onions, garlic, and leeks ✅
C) Beef and ale
D) Fish and wine
➡️ These choices match his coarse personality.
76. Which pilgrim is good at carpentry but keeps it a secret?
A) The Cook
B) The Reeve ✅
C) The Merchant
D) The Clerk
➡️ The Reeve hides his skills for strategic
advantage.
77. Who has a “balde as a panne” head and a goat-like voice?
A) The Summoner
B) The Pardoner ✅
C) The Host
D) The Miller
➡️ The Pardoner’s grotesque image matches his
inner corruption.
78. Which pilgrim is described as “fat and personable”?
A) The Friar ✅
B) The Clerk
C) The Parson
D) The Reeve
➡️ He is charming but not truly religious.
79. The Monk is fond of:
A) Books
B) Charity
C) Hunting ✅
D) Teaching
➡️ His worldly interests contrast his religious
role.
80. Which pilgrim is described as a “perfect gentle-knight”?
A) The Merchant
B) The Knight ✅
C) The Host
D) The Parson
➡️ This phrase expresses Chaucer’s respect for the
Knight.
81. The Knight has fought in:
A) England only
B) Church courts
C) Foreign battles ✅
D) Civil disputes
➡️ He is a seasoned crusader and warrior.
82. What is a key theme in the Prologue?
A) Nature’s healing
B) Religious hypocrisy ✅
C) The monarchy
D) Fate
➡️ Many pilgrims are criticized for failing their
religious duties.
83. Chaucer satirizes the clergy by:
A) Praising their piety
B) Ignoring them
C) Showing their wealth and corruption ✅
D) Comparing them to the nobility
➡️ The religious figures are mostly corrupt or
worldly.
84. The storytelling contest includes:
A) One tale per pilgrim
B) Two tales going and returning ✅
C) Three tales per pilgrim
D) Only religious stories
➡️ Each pilgrim must tell two tales on the way and
two on return (planned).
85. Chaucer uses which literary technique most heavily in the Prologue?
A) Alliteration
B) Simile
C) Satire and irony ✅
D) Tragedy
➡️ Used to criticize societal and religious
figures humorously.
86. Which character loves pleasure more than prayer?
A) The Clerk
B) The Parson
C) The Monk ✅
D) The Knight
➡️ He indulges in worldly activities.
87. What is the Pardoner’s sermon theme?
A) Faith
B) Greed is the root of all evil ✅
C) Purity
D) Charity
➡️ Ironically, he is guilty of the very sin he
preaches against.
88. The Knight’s clothing is described as:
A) Bright and clean
B) Stained from battle ✅
C) Expensive and gold-trimmed
D) Monk-like robes
➡️ His armor is worn and modest.
89. The Wife of Bath’s tales often reflect:
A) Military strategy
B) Feminist assertiveness ✅
C) Knightly honor
D) Religious devotion
➡️ She discusses women's power and marriage
openly.
90. Who serves as a comic foil to the Knight?
A) The Friar
B) The Miller ✅
C) The Clerk
D) The Prioress
➡️ The Miller’s bawdy behavior contrasts the
Knight’s nobility.
91. Which pilgrim is skilled in legal matters but dishonest?
A) The Reeve
B) The Sergeant-at-Law ✅
C) The Franklin
D) The Pardoner
➡️ He appears busy but rarely works.
92. What best describes Chaucer’s narrative persona?
A) Objective and ironic ✅
B) Aggressive and mocking
C) Sentimental
D) Solemn and tragic
➡️ He observes and reports with subtle humor.
93. Chaucer's pilgrims represent:
A) A single noble class
B) All levels of medieval society ✅
C) The clergy only
D) The working poor
➡️ They reflect a social cross-section: nobility,
clergy, middle class, and peasants.
94. The Clerk’s appearance reflects his:
A) Wealth
B) Arrogance
C) Intellectual pursuit ✅
D) Vanity
➡️ He is thin and poorly dressed but full of
wisdom.
95. Which two pilgrims are brothers in spirit and virtue?
A) The Friar and Summoner
B) The Parson and Plowman ✅
C) The Reeve and Pardoner
D) The Monk and Prioress
➡️ Both are humble and hardworking.
96. What is Chaucer’s implied criticism of the Church?
A) It is too generous
B) It has forgotten the poor ✅
C) It is powerless
D) It is too scholarly
➡️ Clergy members exploit faith for money.
97. Which character is the narrator’s “own invention”?
A) The Parson
B) Chaucer himself ✅
C) The Reeve
D) The Summoner
➡️ Chaucer appears as a character in his own tale.
98. The pilgrimage is to the shrine of:
A) Becket ✅
B) Edward
C) Augustine
D) Jerome
➡️ Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury
Cathedral.
99. The Pardoner often uses Latin phrases to:
A) Impress and confuse his audience ✅
B) Show scholarship
C) Mock the Church
D) Pray sincerely
➡️ It adds to his manipulative character.
100. What do the pilgrims agree to on the journey?
A) Praying together
B) No talking
C) Telling stories ✅
D) Fasting
➡️ The Host organizes a story-telling competition.
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