“The Reeve’s Tale” is the third story told in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The reeve, named Oswald in the text, is the manager of a large estate who reaped incredible profits for his master and himself. The Reeve is a skilled carpenter, a profession mocked in the previous “Miller’s Tale”.

The Physician’s Tale

The Best Canterbury Tales Everyone Should Read

• The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.
• The Knight’s Tale.
• The Merchant’s Tale.
• The Reeve’s Tale.
• The Wife of Bath’s Tale.
• The Friar’s Tale.
• The Tale of Sir Thopas.
• The General Prologue.

‘The Reeve’s Tale’ is a story about revenge or what is called quitting, meaning to repay someone. The moral of this story is that you can’t hope for good if you do evil.

Why are the three rioters looking for Death? They are looking for Death because a boy told them it was death who killed the person in the coffin and other people in town. They expect to find Death sitting there under the tree, but instead they find treasure.

What happens when the 1 rioters returns from town? Everything they planned. The first two rioters kill the one who went to town. Then they drink the wine to celebrate and die from the poison.

The Three Rioters Timeline and Summary The Three Rioters see a corpse go by one day and learn that it is the body of a friend of theirs, killed by Death. After recalling all of the deaths Death has caused throughout the countryside, the Rioters swear a pact of brotherhood and make a plan to seek out and kill Death.

13. Why does the youngest rioter buy poison? Because he is gonna kill the other two rioters so he can have the money all to himself.

The youths, hearing the name of Death, demand to know where they can find him. The old man directs them into a grove, where he says he just left Death under an oak tree. The rioters rush to the tree, underneath which they find not Death but eight bushels of gold coins with no owner in sight.

The tavern knave describes Death as a thief. The rioters did literally find Death under the tree, though their greed for the gold. It is ironic that their plots backfired and lead to their destruction.

In his prologue, the Pardoner frankly confesses that he is a fraud motivated by greed and avarice and that he is guilty of all seven sins.

The mere fact that they gather frequently in the local tavern is enough for the Pardoner to link them to a host of sins, including lechery, gluttony, drunkenness, and blasphemous oath swearing.

The irony of the Pardoner’s tale is that he preaches on the very sin he commits. The irony is that the Pardoner’s tale is all about how greed is the root of evil. In the story, all the men die because of their greed and selfishness.

What does personification of Death as a mother suggest? Death can be a comforter by taking away the pain; a relief from suffering.

In Western Europe, Death has commonly been personified as an animated skeleton since the Middle Ages. This character, which is often depicted wielding a scythe, is said to collect the souls of the dying or recently dead. In the late 1800s, the character of Death became known as the Grim Reaper in English literature.

What does the capital F on Fortune tell you? What have the young men forgotten? The capital F implies personification of Fortune. All three rioters make frequent references to religion.

What is ironic about the attitudes of the rioters and the old man toward death? They’re looking for death and usually people would run from it. He claims death will be there but the find gold. Their greed of the gold leads to death.

What does the author mean by “this devil’s clay” in line 277? They call the young rioter devil’s clay because the devil is molding him to do the wrong thing (to murder for gold). Explain the irony in the fact that the Pardoner preaches a story with this particular moral.

What do the three thieves agree to do? They agree to kill death.