The Miller's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer is a mirror of medieval society particularly in the way it depicts the relationships between men and women as well as giving a realistic portrait of working class people during the middle ages. Alison, the main character illustrates how a woman was able to use her sex through her actions of deceit to many characters. Popular belief holds that courtly love was prevalent during the medieval period; however The Miller's Tale provides a more realistic look into sexual relationships through its use of infidelity and sexual humor. Chaucer's characters are typical middle class workers rather than elite nobility. In addition, many of the characters seem heartless and corrupt. Alison's character is far away from most others in her mere selfishness followed by inappropriate humor leading to Nicolas and his "injury." She responds to her husband's jealousy and protective nature by a flirtatious demeanor. As most literature does, The Miller's Tale has a moral even though it's slanted and the punishable party is no t appropriately disciplined. Love in this time period was portrayed in a different manner than in The Miller's Tale. Though Alison was not high in the class system, she could not have been considered "good" enough for any lord as a mistress or any common man as a wife, "For any lord to leggen in his bedde, Or yet for any good yeman to wedde", (Lines 161-162). Though, when Alison was wed to an older man she lacked any attraction and longed to be away from him. Alison is thought to be a newly budded youthful pear tree suggesting her childlike vibrancy and causing many to consider her desirable. Chaucer uses many statements that can be interpreted in a different manner with massive ambiguity. ... ... middle of paper ... ...held with a different responsibility for there actions. Women had a fear for there husbands more than a respect. While Alison cheated on her husband, she worried that he would have her and/or Nicolas killed. She didn't worry that he would be hurt in the matter. The only character that had any sensitivity was Absolon. He chose to declare his love for Alison in a more courteous and classic manner. Society is portrayed differently now than the medieval period. Women are stereotyped of as the overly sensitive while men lack. In The Miller's Tale, the roles were exchanged. It was a popular thought that courtly love was more common during Chaucer's time but he shows a different approach and a "behind the scenes" look at middle class people. A fairy tale has a moral that is clear and concise, however, The Miller's Tale has a moral but it's more discrete and indefinite.
In The Miller’s Tale, Chaucer introduces a romantic drama between a carpenter, his wife, her lover, and her suitor. This chaotic narrative belongs to the fabliau genre, as it depicts a fantastical and crude story that seems to deal satirically with the concept of love. However, Chaucer complicates the satirical narrative with the character of Alisoun. Instead of creating a traditional adulteress in the carpenter’s wife, Chaucer allows Alisoun to exist in multiple forms and produces a multidimensional character. Through the use of the male perspective, comparisons to animals, and Alisoun’s defiance of social boundaries, Chaucer frees Alisoun from becoming a stock character, as her many contradictory characteristics transform her into a complex
During the medieval ages, women were described as evil creatures that would destroy anyone standing in their way to get what they want. People claimed that women's malicious intentions clouded their judgment from doing the right thing forcing them to be selfish. In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Malory’s The Death of King Arthur, both focus on women’s behavioral impulses through their dishonesty, manipulation, and their promiscuity.
This tale does lack of being morally sound. First off the Miller and his wife, Alison, are very much different in age, the young and the elderly do not mix well. The Miller keeps her on a tight leash, because of how young and beautiful she is. He is afraid that she will cheat on him. In fact she does with a student and guest in their home, Nicholas. At first she is totally against sleeping with him. “He made a grab and caught her by the quim and said, ‘Unless I have my will of you I’ll die of secret love, - O, darling, do!’...” (Page 91). She threatens she is going to yell for help, but soon she does agree to sleep with him, and the affair be...
The moral compass of mankind has always piqued the interest of authors. The Middle Ages was a time of immoral behavior, corrupt religious officials, and disregard of marital vows. Geoffrey Chaucer used The Canterbury Tales to explore his personal views of this dark time. In particular, he crafted “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” “The Prioress’s Tale,” and “The Shipman’s Tale” to portray the tainted society, using women in all of them to bring forth his views. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer depicts women as immodest and conniving beings to suggest the moral corruption of the Middle Ages.
This whole tale clearly depicts the injustice that occurred upon John just because he was extremely gullible. It was not fair that his society believed the words of few, rather than actually investigating the truth. This social problem was exploited throughout the tale. This also applies to love itself. In this tale, “everything is fair in love and war”, but Chaucer clearly shows society should not be like this. Society should not take into account love, but facts. Whomever is at fault should be punished, but not the way as Chaucer depicts society to
Forbes, Shannon. "'To Alisoun Now Wol I Tellen Al My Love-Longing': Chaucer's Treatment of the Courtly Love Discourse in the Miller's Tale." Women's Studies 36.1 (2007): 1-14. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 May 2013
Some say women can get the worst out of a man, but in The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1485, proves it. The tales were originally written as a collection of twenty four tales, but has been narrowed down to three short tales for high school readers. The three tales consist of “The Miller”, “The Knight”, and “The Wife of Bath” along with their respective prologues. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer shows the weak but strong role of women throughout the “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” to contrast different human characteristics and stereotypes on the spectrum of people.
In the Miller’s Tale, the story tells of a carpenter and his wife, Allison and how she is pursued by multiple men. The first man to pursue her is Nicolas, a man boarding with the Miller. When the carpenter is away he begins flirting with Allison in hopes of making love. Originally she refuses, but eventually she gives in to his will. Chaucer seems to be pointing out that women are easily swayed by temptation by showing us that Allison is unable to stop herself from making love with Nicolas. In addition Chaucer is also showing us how disloyal women can by using Allison’s extramarital affair as an example. However this stereotyping is not just limited to women in the miller tale but also reaches men too. Later in the story, Nicolas manages to convince the carpenter that there is going to be a massive flood and that he should hide. However this is all just a lie, which Nicolas is using to get the carpenter out of the way so he can be with Allison. Through the carpenter, it seems as if Chaucer is pointing out that men are generally gullible and easily fooled. The stereotyping continues when Absolon enters the story and attempts to woo the likes of Allison. Absolon is unsuccessful in his attempt to woo her however, and Allison tricks him by pretending to offer him ...
The structure Geoffrey Chaucer chose for his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, of utilizing a melange of narrative voices to tell separate tales allows him to explore and comment on subjects in a multitude of ways. Because of this structure of separate tales, the reader must regard as extremely significant when tales structurally overlap, for while the reader may find it difficult to render an accurate interpretation through one tale, comparing tales enables him to lessen the ambiguity of Chaucer’s meaning. The Clerk’s Tale and The Merchant’s Tale both take on the institution of marriage, but comment on it in entirely different manner, but both contain an indictment of patriarchal narcissism and conceit.
Courtly love is extremely evident throughout “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” and allows the development of each character within the plot. Courtly love was believed to be originated in France during the 12th century and eventually spreading to other countries in Europe, influencing authors, such as Geoffrey Chaucer, throughout. English courts, which handled marriages, practiced the art of courtly love from the 12th century to the 14th century, during which marriages were pre-arranged and had little to do with love. A marriage was not based on love, rather on what each participant brought to his or her spouse and families. As love and romance was not a portion of marriage, it became an acceptable practice to seek another romancer outside of the marriage, as long as the spouse adhered to the strict rules of chastity and fidelity (http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/courtly-love.htm). Furthermore, courtly love was only practiced between a man and woman of some sort of noble status, typically between...
In the prologue, the Miller states, “And harlotry was all they had to tell. Consider then and hold me free of blame; and why be serious about a game?” (Chaucer 104). By this, the Miller retaliates from the Reeve’s earlier remark by exposing the plot of the previous tales. He ends with a question to imply that everyone’s stories are just a game to amuse the Host. The author uses the want Absalon has for Alison to show how foolish love can be. Chaucer does not exactly criticize love, but he exposes how love can turn into anger. On page 109, Absalon is shown singing to Alison under her bedroom window but she shoos him away. The parish clerk is persistent on winning Alison over, and Alison is persistent on getting rid of him. In the end though, love makes a fool of Absalon and he acts out of anger to get revenge. On page 115, Nic states, “ ‘Your wife and you must hang some way apart, For there must be no sin before we start.’” (Chaucer 115). Chaucer uses satirical irony through the actions of Nicolas to make fun of the carpenter’s blinding faith. Even though John is not committing sin by sleeping with Alison, Nic is by sleeping with a married woman. Nicolas makes fun of John’s wisdom again by saying, “‘You’re wise enough, I do not have to teach you, Go save our lives for us, as I beseech you.’” (Chaucer
In the beginning of the tale, the carpenter, John, talks about his wife, how she is so much younger then him and how he is a very jealous man: "This carpenter hadde wedded a newe a wif / Which that he loved more than his lif. / Of eighteteen yeer she was of age; / Jalous he was wilde and yong, and he was old / And deemed himself been lik a cokewold" (113). He is talking about his new wife, and that although he loves her dearly, he is very jealous because he is so old and she is so young. It is very strange that a beautiful young woman would marry a man so much older then him. The carpenter even states that: "Men shold wedden after hir estat" (121) which means that men should marry according to their condition. So I think that the carpenter is a wealthy man, and because of this, he feels he should marry a beautiful woman. Going with that, I believe that the young woman, Alison, married this old man, for his money, and not based of true love. So if this marriage wasn't based on true love, it leaves room for disloyalty to come about.
Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale" should be tragic, because a lot of horrible things happen to the characters. The carpenter's wife is disloyal to him, sleeping with others and making fun of him with Nicholas. Also, he is depicted as a fool. However, readers get a humorous feeling from the story, rather than feeling sorry for the carpenter's unfair life. Chaucer makes the whole story come across as comic rather than tragic. This humor is created by the Miller's narration, the use of irony, the cartoon-like characters, and the twists of plot. These elements combine to produce an emotional distance which enhances the comic effect.
The Knight’s Tale and The Miller’s Tale are both told by pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. Although the two stories are set in the same time period and have a similar theme, they each have a distinctive tone. The Knight tells a romantic story that reflects his higher social class during the era in which he lives. The Miller tells a story in which lust, not love, is the guiding motive for the characters. The Miller is in fact drunk when he tells his story, so the Miller’s Tale contains lots of dirty jokes and complicated tricks. The Miller’s tale mirrors the Knight’s tale in a lot of ways. Both of the stories contain a love triangle.
...not change the style of the tale, referring to the tone and language used, but also the way that he appoints this overrated thing that love posses. As in “The Miller’s Tale” does not exist the courtesy or any other important value for society, Chaucer tries to express his own opinion about courtly love through the tale of the Miller saying that this not happen in everywhere or part of the society, demonstrating that the ideals of being a knight is very far away of the convention of what he thinks is valuable to society.