21 Apr 2025

MCQs - The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer

Check Important Objective Type English Literature Multiple Choice Question Answers on The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer in Poetry and its major forms. These solved questions answers on English Literature Poetry section of English Literature Objective type question answers (MCQ) are very useful as English Literature Study Material for UGC NET/JRF/STET, TET, and other written examinations (UGC NET English Paper-II & HPSC Assistant Professor English Screening Exam) based on objective type multiple choice questions.
image: English Literature Question Answers (MCQ) on Poetry @ TeachMatters
(Last Updated: 21.04.2025). Learn English Literature Poetry through these multiple choice objective question answers which are important for the students of English Literature as well as for the candidates who are going to participate in competitive exams based on English Literature General Questions.

 MCQs - The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer - English Literature 

1. Who is the author of The Canterbury Tales?
A) William Shakespeare
B) Geoffrey Chaucer
C) John Milton
D) Thomas More
Answer: B) Geoffrey Chaucer


2. What is the primary setting of the General Prologue?
A) London
B) A church
C) The Tabard Inn
D) Canterbury Cathedral
Answer: C) The Tabard Inn


3. What is the purpose of the pilgrimage in The Canterbury Tales?
A) To attend a wedding
B) To go to a tournament
C) To visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket
D) To escape the plague
Answer: C) To visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket


4. How many pilgrims are traveling to Canterbury (including Chaucer)?
A) 10
B) 20
C) 29
D) 30
Answer: D) 30


5. What language is The Canterbury Tales originally written in?
A) Latin
B) Middle English
C) Old English
D) French
Answer: B) Middle English


6. Who is described as a "true, perfect gentle knight"?
A) The Parson
B) The Franklin
C) The Knight
D) The Squire
Answer: C) The Knight


7. What is the Knight’s son called?
A) The Yeoman
B) The Squire
C) The Summoner
D) The Host
Answer: B) The Squire


8. Which character is most concerned with courtly love and music?
A) The Prioress
B) The Wife of Bath
C) The Squire
D) The Merchant
Answer: C) The Squire


9. What is the name of the inn where the pilgrims meet?
A) The White Hart
B) The Boar’s Head
C) The Tabard
D) The King’s Arms
Answer: C) The Tabard


10. Who proposes the storytelling contest?
A) The Knight
B) Chaucer
C) The Host
D) The Miller
Answer: C) The Host


11. What is the prize for the best tale?
A) A free pilgrimage
B) A golden chalice
C) A supper paid by all
D) A new horse
Answer: C) A supper paid by all


12. Which pilgrim is a poor but virtuous clergyman?
A) The Summoner
B) The Friar
C) The Monk
D) The Parson
Answer: D) The Parson


13. What is the Wife of Bath's physical feature that Chaucer highlights?
A) A gap in her teeth
B) A hunchback
C) A mole on her cheek
D) A limp
Answer: A) A gap in her teeth


14. Which character is skilled in medicine and astrology?
A) The Clerk
B) The Doctor
C) The Sergeant of Law
D) The Friar
Answer: B) The Doctor


15. Who is described as a "manly man," fond of hunting and fine food?
A) The Monk
B) The Knight
C) The Reeve
D) The Pardoner
Answer: A) The Monk


16. Which character is noted for his greed and hypocrisy in selling pardons?
A) The Miller
B) The Pardoner
C) The Friar
D) The Summoner
Answer: B) The Pardoner


17. What is the primary literary form of The Canterbury Tales?
A) Prose
B) Sonnets
C) Rhymed couplets
D) Blank verse
Answer: C) Rhymed couplets


18. The Miller is best described as:
A) Quiet and wise
B) Drunken and crude
C) Noble and humble
D) Pious and reserved
Answer: B) Drunken and crude


19. What distinguishes the Prioress from other nuns?
A) Her devotion to poverty
B) Her noble French accent and table manners
C) Her rough speech
D) Her commitment to teaching
Answer: B) Her noble French accent and table manners


20. What theme is established through the diversity of the pilgrims?
A) The power of royalty
B) The corruption of the church
C) The social diversity and complexity of medieval life
D) The dangers of travel
Answer: C) The social diversity and complexity of medieval life


21. Which of the following characters is associated with the motto "Amor vincit omnia" (Love conquers all)?
A) The Wife of Bath
B) The Prioress
C) The Squire
D) The Pardoner
Answer: B) The Prioress


22. What is the main literary technique used in the General Prologue?
A) Allegory
B) Frame narrative
C) Soliloquy
D) Dramatic monologue
Answer: B) Frame narrative


23. Chaucer's portrayal of the pilgrims is often seen as an example of:
A) Romantic idealism
B) Heroic tragedy
C) Social realism
D) Religious allegory
Answer: C) Social realism


24. Who is the narrator of the General Prologue?
A) The Host
B) The Knight
C) Geoffrey Chaucer
D) The Clerk
Answer: C) Geoffrey Chaucer


25. Which character is described as having "a forked beard" and "motley dress"?
A) The Clerk
B) The Merchant
C) The Reeve
D) The Miller
Answer: B) The Merchant


26. Which character has studied at Oxford but is very poor?
A) The Parson
B) The Clerk
C) The Summoner
D) The Manciple
Answer: B) The Clerk


27. Who is the character that buys food for a college of lawyers but is smarter than them all?
A) The Reeve
B) The Cook
C) The Manciple
D) The Sergeant of Law
Answer: C) The Manciple


28. The Pardoner's relics are:
A) Holy and sacred
B) Fake and used to deceive people
C) Given by the Pope
D) Protected by the Church
Answer: B) Fake and used to deceive people


29. Who is described as being physically repulsive, with a "fire-red face" and "carbuncles"?
A) The Pardoner
B) The Monk
C) The Summoner
D) The Reeve
Answer: C) The Summoner


30. What genre best describes The Canterbury Tales as a whole?
A) Tragedy
B) Religious epic
C) Frame tale / Estate satire
D) Heroic couplet romance
Answer: C) Frame tale / Estate satire


31. What meter is used in most of The Canterbury Tales?
A) Iambic pentameter
B) Trochaic hexameter
C) Dactylic dimeter
D) Free verse
Answer: A) Iambic pentameter


32. How does Chaucer describe the Franklin?
A) Greedy and corrupt
B) A lover of pleasure and hospitality
C) A devout churchman
D) A military hero
Answer: B) A lover of pleasure and hospitality


33. Which character is the ideal representation of a religious person in the General Prologue?
A) The Friar
B) The Parson
C) The Monk
D) The Pardoner
Answer: B) The Parson


34. The Host's real name is:
A) Geoffrey
B) Harry Bailey
C) Roger de Clare
D) Thomas à Becket
Answer: B) Harry Bailey


35. Which character is a skilled carpenter and manages a large estate?
A) The Summoner
B) The Franklin
C) The Reeve
D) The Manciple
Answer: C) The Reeve


36. What is Chaucer’s tone in the General Prologue?
A) Solemn and reverent
B) Satirical yet observant
C) Angry and judgmental
D) Melancholic and lyrical
Answer: B) Satirical yet observant


37. The Miller's physical strength is emphasized by Chaucer mentioning:
A) He can break a door with his head
B) He is a knight in disguise
C) He has large hands
D) He lifts boulders for sport
Answer: A) He can break a door with his head


38. How does the General Prologue begin?
A) With a blessing
B) With a battle scene
C) With a description of spring
D) With a moral lesson
Answer: C) With a description of spring


39. The Knight is returning from:
A) France
B) The Crusades
C) Canterbury
D) Oxford
Answer: B) The Crusades


40. What is the main function of the General Prologue?
A) To describe the weather
B) To explain the rules of pilgrimage
C) To introduce the characters and frame the narrative
D) To tell the first tale
Answer: C) To introduce the characters and frame the narrative


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