As you walk in…

Have your study guide on your desk.

Open your literature book to page 156.

Vocab

Noble preaching– in the passage preceding this excerpt, the Wife of Bath has spoken at length about her view of marriage.

Tribulation– suffering; great distress

Cask– barrel

Broach– tap into

Vocab

Mead– Meadow

Motes– Specks of dust

Bowers– Bedrooms

Thorpes— Villages

Vocab

Outhouses— sheds

Limit— the area to which a friar was restricted in his begging for donations

Incubus– an evil spirit believed to descend on women while they sleep

Question

What seems to be the Wife of Bath’s attitude toward Friars?

Vocab

forlorn— sad and lonely

Grace– mercy

Question

What punishment do the king and the law demand?

To who does the king grant the final judgment?

Vocab

Gages— Pledges

Ten score— 200

But she will— who will not

Void of sin– sinless

Vocab

Sedge— marsh grasses

Bumbles in the mire– booms in the swamp. A wading bird famous for its loud call.

Question

What does this comparison suggest about the queen’s whisper?

Vocab

Crone– an ugly old woman or hag

Vocab

Coverchief— an ornamental hair net

In full array— in all his finery

Heady—giddy

Grace— gift

Liege— lord

Question

How might a woman’s power over a lover differ from a power over a husband?

Vocab

Behest— promise

Race and Station— family and rank

Misalliance— an unsuitable marriage

Vocab

Contemptuous— scornful; openly disrespectful

Abominably— Unpleasantly; terribly

Question

What does the old woman think is the chief qualification of a gentleman?

How would you define “gentle birth” and “gentleness” as used in this passage?

Vocab

Professions— beliefs; ideals

Bequeath— to leave in a will; give as an inheritance

Prowess— superior skill; great ability

Temporal— of the material world; not eternal

Maim– to disable to permanently wound

Question

Why might the sentiment expressed in this line have been viewed as fairly radical in the Wife of Bath’s Day?

Vocab

Sot— Fool

Rebuke— to criticize

Fen— marsh

Cuckold— a husband whose wife is unfaithful

Question

How does the knight’s statement relate to what he has learned about “the thing that women most desire”?

Reminder

Have a great weekend!

Bring your literature book on Monday.