The Miller's Tale

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury tales contains three fabliaux that value cleverness over morality. One of those is present within The Miller’s tale. A fabliau is defined as a “funny short story that is produced in verse form and deals with sexual or economic deception”. (Black et. al, 46) Canterbury tales contains three fabliaux which are all related together creating a pattern of moral deterioration, starting with the Miller’s tale of rivalry for love then moving on to the Reeves tales of vengefulness. The third fabliau came in the form of the Cooks tale that focuses on gambling, debauchery and prostitution. (Morgan, 492) These three fabliaux tales contrast with the chivalry of the Knights tale. The Miller’s tale has a great emphasis on the description of the young wife. He describes her in a way that is solely sexual and is purposed to be humorous. The vulgarity of the description links with the Millers poor moral behaviour. Chaucer’s Canterbury tale is written in a free verse as there is no meter found in Chaucer’s work. However, the tale does follow an aa bb rhyming pattern. For example: This carpenter hadde wedded newe a wfe. (A) Which he loved moore than his lyf (A) Of eighteteene yeer she was of age (B) Jalous he was, and heeld hire narwe in cage (B) (Chaucer,…

In Chaucer’s “The Miller’s Tale”, besides love being of the most central idea of the story there are many forms shown in the plot. Some of the types of love in the story are romantic love, sensual love (stemmed from lust), religious love, and a form of love that falls more into the lines of admiration. Some of the representations of romantic love are first introduced when it is revealed Nicholas has “fallen in love” with Alison, and John’s feelings of romantic love for Alison, though it is…

7) The Miller’s tale only consists of four characters, two of which are men of the cloth, of varying degrees. The Millers portrayal of the two clerks, Nicholas and Absolon, both exemplify the varying degrees of faith and knowledge while being of the same creed in order to draw comparisons in their actions in an effort to be with the already wedded Alison and uses their beliefs to justify all the consequences of the acts taken by the men in the tale. With the use of the word creed is draws back…

Tales such as the Miller’s and Reeve’s tale depict to us not only a sense of humor, but additionally portrays a sense of what medieval society was like during Chaucer’s time as an author. Mainly the way shows the livelihood and depicts the social status of characters, not only in the humorous tales but also in the more somber ones. Humor is Chaucer’s discreet way of showing the environment in medieval society. To begin with, to what extent does the humor in the Canterbury Tales show us about…

The Miller’s and the Reeve’s tales are two of 25 short stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer, a 13th century writer. The combined 25 stories make up the book titled The Canterbury Tales, which takes place in medieval England during the late 1300s to the early 1400s. The Canterbury Tales is about twenty-nine people that gather at the Tabard Inn in southwark for a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas á Becket in Canterbury England. The host of the Inn, the narrator, proposes a story-telling…

210 19 October 2017 The Threads Connecting The Canterbury Tales: A Comparison of The Miller’s Tale and The Merchant’s Tale The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, is a collection of stories, allegedly told to Chaucer by a band of travelers while making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. Each story contains different plots, characters, influences, and storytelling devices. However, at least every tale is connected to another, either by contrast, theme, or story teller. Two of the tales,…

First Draft English Essay The Canterbury tales, specifically, the Miller’s tale, insult Christian ideals by denouncing the Bible and contradicting Christian customs; while it is also evident from the Prioress’ Tale that Christians are labeled and stereotyped as weak, poor and powerless. These two ideas of Christianity being mocked and laughed upon, reflect on the narrator’s strong disbelief in Christianity. The Miller’s tale is a disgrace to the Bible by engaging in sinful activities that…

really ironic because the reader knows it is a trick and people will think the carpenter is simple for believing so quickly, while at the same time he believes he is smart. The carpenter suspects Absalon but not Nicholas of cheating with his wife, when actually Nicholas is the threat. This irony keeps readers at a distance from the tale. Furthermore, an emotional distance is created between the reader and characters through Chaucer's description, which is used to establish a character…

The Miller's Prologue and Tale Summary After the Knight's story, the Host calls upon the Monk to tell a story that will rival the Knight's tale for nobility of purpose. But the Miller, who is very drunk, announces that he will tell a story about a carpenter. The Reeve, Oswald, objects because he was once a carpenter. Chaucer then warns the reader that this tale might be a bit vulgar, but he must tell all the stories because a prize is at stake. Thus, the Miller begins his tale. John, an old and…

one were to be skeptical of these beliefs they need only look into the past and see the way women were perceived in historical literature. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is such a window one can look into and see the perception of women in the medieval period, or at least how he viewed them. The women of the period are displayed through multiple characters, but two of the most known are Alison, of “The Miller’s Tale,” and The Wife of Bath, from her prologue and tale, both of which…