Analyze “the wyf of Bath” in the introduction to The Canterbury Tales and
Chaucer’s Prologue (pages 293-315 in your anthology) the Wyf of Bath begins at line
Your task is to adopt a Pilgrim, bring them to life for the rest of the class, and identify how Chaucer is making
fun of them! (He mocks some of them more than others, but there is some making-fun in all of his descriptions.
For your discussion post, please complete the following:
1) In 150-200 words, identify your pilgrim (The wyf of Bath) and describe what they LOOK like, using one
quotation from the poem. If you are artistically gifted (or even if you’re not!), you can also include a drawing or
other representation showing what you think the pilgrim looks like!
2) In another 150-200 words, describe the most important aspects of this pilgrim’s personality, quoting at least
once from the poem and explaining any significant word choices by quoting the definitions and footnotes from
the edition as needed. (You can just say “the editors” define it as _.)
3) In the final part of your post, try to explain how Chaucer is making fun of your pilgrim, again quoting from the
poem to support your analysis.
Remember to cite line numbers for all quotations!
NOTE: The ONLY pilgrim you are writing about is The wyf of Bath.
BOOK: The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, Concise Volume A, ed. Joseph Black et al. (Broadview,
2016). ISBN: 9781554813124 / 1554813123
This very short and silly video highlights the key elements of the Canterbury tales and may make the text more
approachable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ZrBr9DOwA
be warned that the language is difficult! It may take some extra time for you to read it, and there is no modern
English facing text for this one! I strongly recommend reading alongside this audio recording of the language:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GihrWuysnrc Although the recording misses out a few bits of the prologue
due to technical issues (just pause and read the missing bits to yourself!), the reader, J.B. Bessinger, Jr., does
a fantastic job of reading the Middle English in a vivid, emotionally engaging way. I think this will help a lot with
your comprehension