Question

In this excerpt from "The Nun's Priest's Tale" in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, how is Pertelote, a hen, compared to Hasdrubal's wife?
When they had caught a sight of ChanticleerBut fair Dame Pertelote assailed the earFar louder than did Hasdrubal's good wifeWhen that her husband bold had lost his life,And Roman legionaries burned Carthage.

Pertelote's devotion to her husband is compared to that of Hasdrubal's wife.

Pertelote's screams are likened to the laments of Hasdrubal's wife.

Pertelote's beauty is compared to that of Hasdrubal's wife.

Hasdrubal's wife's mannerisms are mimicked by Pertelote the hen.

Pertelote's love for Chanticleer is mocked by Hasdrubal's wite.

Answer 1

The answer is:

Pertelote's screams are likened to the laments of Hasdrubal's wife.

In the excerpt from "The Nun's Priest's Tale" in Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," Lady Pertelote the hen cries so loud that she is compared to Hasdrubal's wife's weeping. The reason is, her husband was killed by the Romans, the city was burned and she committed suicide. As a consequence, since the narrator describes the hen's grieving as so loud that it attacks the air, it is assumed Pertelote grieved and groaned desperately.

Answer 2

Pertelote's screams are likened to the laments of Hasdrubal's wife, since it states how the hen "assiled the ear far louder" than Hasdrubal's wife. It talks nothing of Pertelote's love, manerisms or devotion, just how loud she screamed.