Day 3

The Canterbury Tales Lesson Plan

Discussion of Thought Questions

  1. 1

    How do pagan and Christian beliefs interact in the Miller's Tale? Especially, how does the metaphysics in the Miller's Tale react to that in the Knight's Tale?

    In the Knight's Tale, pagan astrology is elaborated into a full and respected cosmology. Fate, providence, and fortune are major themes, but the Knight stays within a non-Christian framework in discussing them, most closely echoing classical authors.

    In the Miller's Tale, the portrait of the Church, in the person of Absalon, is none too flattering. Absalon loves fancy things and frivolous arts. His name carries with it the weight of David's treacherous son Absalom in the Old Testament. The carpenter John is one of the...

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