3. Give the plan of the Canterbury Tales. For what is the Prologue remarkable? What light does it throw upon English life of the fourteenth century? Quote or read some passages that have impressed you. Which character do you like best? Are any of the characters like certain men and women whom you know? What classes of society are introduced? Is Chaucer's attitude sympathetic or merely critical?
4. Tell in your own words the tale you like best. Which tale seems truest to life as you know it? Mention any other poets who tell stories in verse.
5. Quote or read passages which show Chaucer's keenness of observation, his humor, his kindness in judgment, his delight in nature. What side of human nature does he emphasize? Make a little comparison between Chaucer and Shakespeare, having in mind (1) the characters described by both poets, (2) their knowledge of human nature, (3) the sources of their plots, (4) the interest of their works.
6. Describe briefly Piers Plowman and its author. Why is the poem called "the gospel of the poor"? What message does it contain for daily labor? Does it apply to any modern conditions? Note any resemblance in ideas between Piers Plowman and such modern works as Carlyle's Past and Present, Kingsley's Alton Locke, Morris's Dream of John Ball, etc.
7. For what is Wyclif remarkable in literature? How did his work affect our language? Note resemblances and differences between Wyclif and the Puritans.
8. What is Mandeville's Travels? What light does it throw on the mental condition of the age? What essential difference do you note between this book and Gulliver's Travels?
| [CHRONOLOGY,] FOURTEENTH CENTURY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HISTORY | LITERATURE | ||||
| 1327. | Edward III | ||||
| 1338. | Beginning of Hundred Years' | ||||
| War with France | 1340(?). | Birth of Chaucer | |||
| 1347. | Capture of Calais | ||||
| 1348-1349. | Black Death | 1356. | Mandeville's Travels | ||
| 1359. Chaucer in French War | |||||
| 1360-1370. | |||||
| Chaucer's early | |||||
| or French period | |||||
| 1373. | Winchester College, first | ||||
| great public school | 1370-1385. | Chaucer's Middle or | |||
| Italian period | |||||
| 1377. | Richard II. Wyclif and the | ||||
| Lollards begin Reformation | 1362-1395. | Piers Plowman | |||
| in England | |||||
| 1381. | Peasant Rebellion. Wat Tyler | 1385-1400. | Canterbury Tales | ||
| 1382. | First complete Bible in | ||||
| English | |||||
| 1399. | Deposition of Richard II. | 1400. | Death of Chaucer | ||
| Henry IV chosen by Parliament | (Dante's Divina Commedia, | ||||
| c. 1310; | Petrarch's | ||||
| sonnets and poems, 1325-1374; | |||||
| Boccaccio's tales, c. | |||||
| 1350.) | |||||