Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) & Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400): The Two Greatest Writers of the Middle Ages

Similarities	Differences
Both Upper Middle Class/ Landed Gentry	Dante is Italian; Chaucer is English
Both Active in Public Affairs, Envoys of Government	Every one of Dante's subjects (except himself) is dead; Chaucer's are all alive.
Both Laymen with Orthodox views	Dante used Bitterness, Chaucer used Humor to criticize religious hypocrites.
Both Aware of Injustices resulting from Abuses of System  Both Exposed Scoundrels and Frauds with Enthusiasm	Dante's portraits "are more decisive, more limited, more exclusively concentrated on ethical definition; Chaucer's have room for more mundane, personal, and morally neutral detail" (Norton 1894).

"General Prologue" Cast of Characters:   Name Page Introduced/Described Narrator 591 Knight 591 Squire 592 Yeoman 593 Prioress 593 Priest 594 Nun 594 Monk 594 Friar 594 Merchant 596 Oxford Student/Clerk 596 Lawyer (Sergeant of Law) 596 Franklin 597 Haberdasher 597 Carpenter 597 Weaver 597 Dyer 597 Upholsterer / Arras-maker 597 Cook 598 Shipman 598 Physician (Doctor of Physic) 598 Wife of Bath 599 Parson 599 Plowman 600 Reeve 601 Miller 601 Summoner (Sumner) 601/602 Pardoner 601/603 Manciple 601 Innkeeper/Host 604

General Things to Consider: Characterization:  Relative "Goodness" and "Badness" Comparison to Dante Fabliau Piety vs. Hypocrisy Generational Differences Relation of Story to Storyteller Definition of Terms

** Homework Questions **
General Prologue:
589:

• What is a fabliau?
• What is a frame tale?
• What overriding focus permeates Medieval Literature?

• When do people tend to go on pilgrimages?  Why?
• Where do they go?  Why?

• How are the Knight and the Squire different?

• Is the Prioress described like a "typical" nun?  Explain.

• What does "Amor vincit omnia" (162) mean?
• How is the Monk one who "followed new-world manners" (176)?

• Describe the Summoner's appearance. Does it fit his personality? Explain.

• How do all the pilgrims here meet?

• Explain:  The Friar "was an easy man to give penance, / When knowing he should get a good pittance" (223-24).
• Why does he know barmaids better than lepers?  Should things be otherwise? Explain.

• Explain the symbolic significance of this description of the Oxford student:  "Right threadbare was his overcoat" (292).

• What is a Franklin?
• Who is Epicurus?

• On what field is the Physician's medical practice based?

• Who was Hippocrates?
• What do gaps in a woman's teeth signify?
• How does the Parson compare to the Friar?

• How does the Plowman compare to his brother, the Parson?

• What is a Manciple?  a Miller?  a Reeve?  a Summoner?  a Pardoner?
• What kind of character does the Manciple have?

• Explain this reference to the Pardoner:  "I think he was gelding or a mare" (693).
• What does the Pardoner carry with him?  Why?

• Whose idea is it to tell tales?  Why?