Geoffrey Chaucer
Lesson plans for The Canterbury Tales

| Biography and Broad Overview | | The Prologue | | The Knight's Tale | | The Miller's Tale | | The Pardoner's Tale | | The Wife of Bath |

Biography and Overview

Audio Recordings
Scroll down to nos. 5-11 to hear excerpts read in Middle English. MP3 software required for access.

The Canterbury Tales
This music video could serve as an introduction to the unit. Downloadable, it runs 2:31 and is captioned.

The Canterbury Tales
An interactive e-text. Click on a hyperlinked word to see a translation or explanation in the glossary in the lower right frame. Woodcuts, some analysis, and links to biography and historical background are also available.

The Canterbury Tales
How might students use storyboards to demonstrate and to extend their learning? Check the resources here: Plot Diagram for "The Knight's Tale," Creating a Character Map for "General Prologue," Conflict in "The Miller's Tale," Determining Perspective in "The Wife of Bath's Prologue," Caricatures in "The General Prologue." Note: Storyboard That helps sponsor this site.

The Canterbury Tales
This site offers theme openers, crosscurricular assignments, research assignments, and suggestions for related reading.

The Canterbury Tales
Links to audio files of sections of the General Prologue and other tales.

Canterbury Tales Remix
Guidelines for a modern retelling of the Tales as a class project.

Chaucer's English
The British Library sponsors a site on the changing English language. This link leads to the opening page of the section on Chaucer, including a summary and an audio file of Middle English. Follow the links at the bottom to practice comparing and contrasting Middle and Modern English.

Chaucer
Biography and extensive criticism from the Internet Public Library.

Chaucer Metapage
This scholarly site offers collections of links to etexts, audio files, background information, recipes, costume, and more.

The Geoffrey Chaucer Website Homepage
Texts and translations of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and related texts from the time period, criticism, background information.

New Chaucer Society
Don't miss the extensive collection of links to information about Chaucer and medieval England.

Pilgrims Passing To and Fro
What Chaucer left out: background information, social status, income, the Tabard Inn, and a map of the journey.

Pronouncing Chaucer's English
A written pronunciation guide.

Vocabulary from The Canterbury Tales
A list of 773 words drawn from the Tales, presented in context.

The Prologue

The Canterbury Tales Prologue in Middle English
A reading of the first 18 lines of the Prologue. At YouTube, 1:12.

Geoffrey Chaucer Study Questions
Questions for the General Prologue and The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.

Medieval Sourcebook, Canterbury Tales : Prologue
Side-by side paraphrase of the prologue and of several portraits.

The Tabard Inn, Southwark, London in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales"
What did the Tabard look like? An artist's rendering with a link to a Google map of the region today. (The Tabard no longer stands.)

Whan that Aprille
A pronunciation guide for the Prologue and links to related sites.

The Knight's Tale

Enjoying "The Knight's Tale"
Summary, analysis, and related links.

The Miller's Tale

The Miller's Tale
Biography and background, analysis and commentary.

The Pardoner's Tale

Study Questions on Geoffrey Chaucer
These questions focus on the Prologue and the Pardoner's Tale.

The Wife of Bath's Tale

Launchpad: Chaucer's Wife of Bath
Students analyze Chaucer's portrayal of the Wife of Bath, consider how the story reflects on both her character and on Chaucer's view of marriage and women, examine literary sources that contributed to this characterization, and explore the historical context that informs this depiction of the rights of women in marriage.

Geoffrey Chaucer Study Questions
Scroll down to find questions related to The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.

How would the Wife of Bath debate the church fathers?
This 3-page worksheet invites students to a close reading of the text. Students are presented with passages from the writings of St. Paul and St. Jerome; they are challenged to construct the Wife of Bath's response. Adobe Reader required for access.

Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale
Biography and background, scholarship, summary, character traits, and essay questions. A very thorough site.

The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
Text in Middle English with line-by-line translation into Modern English. Scroll down.

The Wife of Bath's Tale
Graphic organizer for character analysis, editing practice, and work with synonyms. This document requires Adobe Reader or compatible application for access.