English 201: English Literature to 1700
Prof. BoyerReading Questions for the Close of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (pp. 310-313) The best beginning procedure is always to read the assignment all the way through, keeping track of characters, so that you know what's happening. If possible, read the whole work first. Try to get the big picture of the book (or section, or chapter) before getting bogged down in details. Read through, then go back and clear up details. Then you're ready to read the work closely with these questions in mind. (In the discussion below, page and line numbers in parentheses refer to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th ed., vol. 1 [2000] unless otherwise indicated.)
Introduction to The Parson's Tale
Chaucer's RetractionThe Introduction to The Parson's Tale (pp. 310-312)
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1.
The Parson's Tale is the last one. First, reread the description of the Parson in The General Prologue, lines 479-530 (pp. 226-228). What sort of person is he portrayed as in this description? Then turn to the Introduction to the Parson's Tale (pp. 311-312). What time of day is it? How does the narrator know? What does the Parson think about telling tales, and on whose authority (lines 31-41)? What does his description in lines 49-51 suggest is happening to Chaucer's tale of a pilgrimage?
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And what "tale" does he tell? The Parson's Tale is a long prose meditation on the seven deadly sins, apparently written as a guide to spiritual counselors and confessors. It takes up almost 15 percent of the entire Canterbury Tales and is two-thirds the length of the entire Canterbury Tales section in The Norton Anthology.
Chaucer's Retraction (p. 313)
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1.
And after The Parson's Tale comes not the conclusion of the journey and the entrance into Canterbury but rather the Retraction (p. 313). What does Chaucer retract and why? Does he retract everything he has written? Does he retract all of The Canterbury Tales?