Question

And it fell to the youngest of them all, And he set off at once towards the town. And thereupon, so soon as he was gone, One of the two who stayed said to the other: "You know, of course, that you are my sworn brother. I’ll tell you something that you won’t lose by. As you can see, our friend has gone away, And here is gold, and that in greatest plenty, All waiting to be split between us three. How would it be, if I can work it so That it is only shared between us two, Wouldn’t I be doing you a friendly turn?" How does Chaucer characterize the young man speaking in this passage?

Answer 1

This question is missing the options. I have found the complete question online. Since the passage is the same, I will omit it:

How does Chaucer characterize the young man speaking in this passage?

A. as uncomfortable

B. as loyal

C. as deceitful

D. as innocent

Answer:

Chaucer characterizes the young man:

C. as deceitful

Explanation:

When we call someone deceitful, we mean that person is false, untruthful, untrustworthy. Notice that Chaucer shows the young man is deceitful through the character's own words. He knows he is supposed to split the gold between the three of them. However, once the youngest is gone to town, he proposes to the other man that they split it only between the two of them. He clearly cannot be trusted. Therefore, letter C is the best option for this question.