Describe how Chaucer uses setting and imagery in both The Book of the Duchess and The Knight’s Tale. What scenes rely particularly on setting? What are the different purposes of these descriptive settings? How do they contribute to the texts?
The Knight’s Tale and the Miller’s Tale are two very different stories, yet there are similarities. Compare and contrast the characters, perhaps Alisoun with Emeyle or Nicholas and Absolon with Arcite and Palamon. How are they different, the same? Do they function the same way in their separate tales? Explain.
Fortune has been a common theme so far in the Knight’s Tale and The Book of the Duchess. Look back at Theseus’s last speech which begins at Line 2987. How does Theseus’s speech relate back to Fortune, and how Fortune effects the individual? Does his speech reflect your idea of how Fortune functions in Chaucer’s works? If not, how does it challenge your idea of Fortune?