The Miller's Tale

than the Grimm Brother’s tale; it is a specific type, with multiple variations identified by Aarne-Thompson-Uther’s (ATU) classification system in tale type A955. Here, the ATU system is used for ease in locating similar tales, rather than a rigid adherence to ATU’s criteria, and is supplemented by Maria Tartar’s grouping of “Bluebeard,” “Fitcher’s Bird,” and “The Robber Bridegroom” variations in The Classic Fairy Tales. ATU has located two prominent variants of the tale: the aforementioned “The…

Some time later after several character stories, it is the Wife of Bath’s turn to tell her tale. Before she begins, she gives a very lengthy Prologue. She begins by stating how she considers herself an authority on marriage due to her extensive experience of five marriages since she was first wedded at twelve (TCT, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue lines ). She states she 's received criticism for it due to people citing the Biblical story of the Wedding at Cana, which is the only such event Christ…

tradition of oral storytelling dates back thousands of year. Fairy tales were not originally intended for children. Fairy tales were created, retold and accepted by families, cultures, and regions. Storytellers had the power to decide what social practices were acceptable for a society and had the influence over their audience to subtly implement changes through the acceptance of the stories being told. This is the reason that fairy tales slowly changed over time before they were documented…

Influenced by the rise of romantic nationalism, the Grimm brothers published a collection of German fairy tales in the 1812 as an effort to preserve German folk tradition. Hidden within the text of each fairy tales were attitudes toward society. This included religion, which was a fundamental aspect of German culture. The Catholic Church gained power through their large membership throughout Germany and Europe. It became so powerful that the Catholic clergy were wealthy and corrupt. Eventually,…

In “The Knight’s Tale”, we are told the story of two young knights who are found among the bodies of his allies after the destruction of Creon’s forces. The knights, Arcita and Palamon, are sent to dwell in prison by Theseus. In their imprisonment, the knights fall madly in love for Emelye, whom they have observed wandering around the premises. Theseus, realizing the developing quarrel, decides the only way to settle the dispute for Emelye’s hand is by organizing a tournament between the former…

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margret Atwood explores the limited freedoms available to women in the newly formed dystopian society of Gilead. The Handmaid’s Tale follows Offred, the protagonist and a Handmaid in Gilead, a society that assigns roles and divides women from one another. Gilead values women solely for their ability to fulfill certain roles assigned to them by the men. These include the ability to reproduce, and fulfill stereotypically feminine roles, such as doing housework or being a…

Margaret Attwood uses her gift for fictional writing to explore the powerful theme of control. She does this through the medium of The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), which won the Governor-General’s award in 1985, and the first Arthur C. Clarke award in 1987. The dystopian novel portrays a current day North America being occupied by the religious extremists the Sons of Jacob. The religious leaders that are aiming to enact its idea of a perfect world heavily control the dystopia’s population. Attwood…

At their essence, all stories are the same; from George Lucas ' Star Wars and Grimm 's fairy tales to The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and Homer 's The Odyssey. Granted, at face value, there might seem little common ground between Luke Skywalker and Cinderella, or between Dorothy Gale and Odysseus. However, every story plays towards certain experiences-- a progression of trials, triumphs and occasional failures that allow the hero to develop and overcome adversity. This process, called the Hero…

more entertaining and acceptable to modern audiences. Likewise, in the fiction novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, relates to the values of the Puritans who settled in New England Massachusetts while also relating to modern audiences with TV’s, cars, and planes, which can be seen as more towards the present day than relating to the 16th century America. It can be seen that The Handmaid’s Tale resembles the time from when the puritans lived in New England, but in reality the theocratic…

a Time, discusses the breadth and oeuvre of the fairy tale genre, delving into its progression into children’s literature and the darkening of themes in recent years as part of a reclamation process. The novel is presented as a history of the fairy tale, spanning from the first mentions of the worlds of faery, on into the 21st century to look at adaptations, particularly film and theater re-imaginings of the words and worlds of the fairy tale. However, in the opening prologue, Warner offers the…