Quiz II Study Guide (Gluttony)
Humanities 102: Introduction to Western Civilization
Mr. Vehse
1. What feature of the traditional Western idea of gluttony essentially has been removed by the more recent
influences of Puritanism and capitalism, according to Francine Prose?
2. Francine Prose cites the case of “Pardoner’s Tale” from the Canterbury Tales to illustrate the principle
that gluttony leads to other sins. “O, if a man knew how many miseries followed from excess and gluttony,
He would be more moderate in his diet when he sits at the table,” rants the Pardoner. Who composed the
Canterbury Tales?
3. According to Francine Prose, what is the “sister transgression” of gluttony?
4. With what animal form did the sin of gluttony come to be associated?
5. In one distinctly surprising Medieval Christian understanding of gluttony, who were the first people to
commit this deadly sin?
6. “Drink or food that is above or below a certain amount destroys the health, while that which is
proportionate both produces and increases and preserves it,” writes an ancient Greek philosopher,
incorporating gluttony into a larger philosophy of life. “So too is it, then, in the case of temperance and
courage and the other virtues. For the man who flies from and fears everything and does not stand his
ground against anything becomes a coward, and the man who fears nothing at all but goes to meet every
danger becomes rash.” Who was this philosopher?
7. What do some early Christian writers and theologians seem to have had in common, according to Prose,
that reinforced their inclination to view gluttony as a sin?
8. Besides the Canterbury Tales, Prose cites two other Medieval works which condemn gluttony outright.
One of them is Thomas á Kempis’ Imitation of Christ. The other was written by William Langland.
“Gluttony he gave also and great oaths together, All day to drink at divers taverns,” he wrote. What is the
title of this second work?
9. Where did Francine Prose commit her own unselfconscious act of gluttony?
10. What did Prose and her husband eat that so embarrassed them and outraged other people they were
with?
11. According to Prose, the author, Petronius, describes a feast in his work, Satyricon. In this scene, an ex-
slave named Trimalchio whose consort is a former prostitute, has a lavish meal tastelessly served to his
dinner guest. Hunting dogs charge into the room to announce the arrival of the main course: a roast boar
wearing a hat. At whose ridiculous gluttony does Petronius appear to be poking fun?
12. What institution of Christianity, according to Prose, contributed more than any single other to the rise
of gluttony to a position of prominence among the Seven Deadly Sins?
13. “For it is possible that a wise man may use the daintiest food without any sin of epicurism or gluttony,”
writes Saint Augustine, “while a fool will crave for the vilest food with a most disgusting eagerness of
appetite.” If Augustine is not worried so much about what a person eats, what does he seem to consider
potentially dangerous to the spirit?
14. What is it, according to Prose, that the two sins, lust and gluttony, have in common?
15. Prose describes a painting in which half-human, half-monster demons torture gluttons at the Last
Judgment. “In the foreground are two demons who could pass for elderly grandmas, except the one in the
