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No Fear Shakespeare
Literature
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Search all of SparkNotes

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Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.

No Fear Shakespeare
Literature
Other Subjects
Teacher
Blog
Help

The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer

Study Guide

Summary
- Plot Overview
Characters
Main Ideas
- Themes
- Motifs
- Symbols
- Key Facts
Quotes
- Important Quotations Explained
Further Study
- Context
- Full Book Quiz
- Study Questions
- Suggestions for Further Reading
Writing Help

Further Study

The Pardoner's Introduction, Prologue, and Tale Quiz

Further Study The Pardoner's Introduction, Prologue, and Tale Quiz

1 of 5
Why does the Pardoner falsely claim his relics have healing powers?

So the common folk will worship him
So that he will be promoted and allowed in the Pope's inner circle
So parishioners will pay him money to be "cured"
He doesn't know the claim is fake. He truly believes he is curing people.

2 of 5
Whom do the three young rioters in the Pardoner's story want to kill and why?

A young thug who killed their friend
A parish clerk named Absalon who lectures them on their drinking
A chemist in town who secretly tried to poison all three of them
Death, because he killed a friend of theirs

3 of 5
What does the old man they meet tell them?

That they can find death in a grove under an oak tree
That there's gold under an oak tree in a grove
That they will all die within a fortnight
That they are destined for fame and fortune

4 of 5
Why do they start plotting against each other?

Because the old man starts telling them lies about each other
Because each wants a greater share of the gold they find under the tree
Because they begin to suspect one of them is going to steal all the gold
Because one of them killed the old man

5 of 5
When the youngest returns from town with wine how do all three men die?

Two of them are stabbed and the third stabs himself.
They all die of poisoned wine.
The youngest is stabbed and the other two die from poisoned wine.
The tree is hit by lightning and a giant limb crushes them.

Previous section The Wife of Bath's Tale Quick Quiz Next section The Nun's Priest's Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue Quick Quiz

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