Chaucer: Discuss the importance of the season and the natural environment in the General Prologue to
the Canterbury Tales. Since there are a number of possible approaches to this topic, please choose one
particular approach and focus on its theme. For example, you may analyze the opening lines of the
General Prologue in terms of its natural environment and consider their importance for the characters’
journey. Or you may discuss the General Prologue as a frame narrative (which provides a context for the
pen-portraits of the characters and later also for the tales that they tell) and discuss the importance of the
season and the natural environment in this narrative structure. (Or you may compare the setting of the
General Prologue with the setting of another text that takes place in a similar or different season (e.g. the
newly created world of Narnia for the former, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for the latter).
Sample Solution
