Miller's Tale Essay

There has been a flood of folklore and popular myth on the subject of supernatural beings capable of sucking the life out of their victims. One can find a mention of these creatures throughout the centuries. From a Succubus in the Bible to the Vampires of today’s Twilight Sagas, the short story “Luella Miller” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman is no different. This story, unlike many other tails, did not just come out and say that the creature was present for sure; it more or less hinted to it possible existences. Also the hypnotic state that the victims were in brings the reader to believe that something unnatural is at hand. With a closer look through the eyes of our narrator, Lydia Anderson, we can

"The American Dream is the largely unacknowledged screen in front of which all American writing plays itself out," Arthur Miller has said (Galvin). To many people Arthur Miller is known for his role against communist accusations and using his writing to portray what has happened during McCarthyism. From Miller’s struggles as a child to his first big break as a playwright to his fight against the government, he has still been able to maintain integrity in his writing and captivated many audiences over the years.

Throughout the Canterbury Tales, various characters are introduced and tell a tale, each of which tells a different story. All of the tales are unique and address different issues. “The Miller’s Tale” is the second of the many stories and varies from all of the rest. As seen from the “General Prologue,” Chaucer clearly depicts the Miller as a crude, slobbish man who will say anything. This reputation is held true as the Miller drunkenly tells a story full of adultery and bickering. Despite the scandalous nature of “The Miller’s Tale,” the story also displays some of Chaucer’s prominent beliefs. As “The Miller’s Prologue” and “The Miller’s Tale” are told, it becomes evident that Chaucer is challenging the common roles and behaviors of women, and he is also questioning the effectiveness of social class.

cheats Alan and John out of a fair amount of grain, and the scene  where

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are some of the most widely read and anthologized pieces of medieval poetry. These tales are generally celebrated and enjoyed because of the author’s use of wit and satire, as Chaucer often uses word play and characterization to deliver hard-hitting, yet entertaining truths about his time period. This is the case in “The Miller’s Tale,” which portrays the story of a carpenter with an adulterous wife and the shenanigans that take place during and after one of her affairs. After closely examining “Absalom’s Revenge,” the last section of this tale, it is clear to see that Chaucer uses language, puns, and other writing techniques to provide a commentary on the lewdness of some who lived during the Middle Ages.

“The Miller’s Tale” and “The Knight’s Tale” are very different, but they also had a lot of similarities.

“I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were” ( Tragedy and the Common Man). Arthur Miller follows his Millerian conventions of tragedy in the writing of The Crucible. Often literature uses tragedy to display a depressing theme represented by the tragic hero.

“The Miller’s Tale” is a Fabliau. Chaucer illustrates how a fabliau can be a parody of romance. This kind of medieval literature usually involves someone getting cheated on. Sex in association with women is a major component in Chaucer’s Humorous tale. “The Miller’s Tale” main character Alisoun is the divine, she is the center of courtly love. Joseph D. Parry Analyzes “The Miller’s tale” in his article “Interpreting female agency and responsibility in the Miller's Tale and the Merchant's Tale”. Parry’s explications of Alisoun being solely responsible for John, Nicholas and Absolon’s misfortunes are solid but not completely accurate.

Chaucer tries to save himself from ridicule by saying he is only a scribe. In making the criticism of the estate hierarchy the Miller’s complaint

The Canterbury Tales begin with The Knight’s Tale; which chronicles the tragic love triangle of Palamon, Arcite and Emilye. The following tale, which is told by the Miller, is also a love triangle, and is in many ways similar to the Knight’s tale. However, the Miller’s tale sharply contrasts the Knight’s, almost parodying it. The Knight’s tale is a tragic of nobility, heritage and focuses heavily on mythology and astrology, whereas The Miller’s tale is a comedy, focusing on the common-man and his less civilized, and bawdy lifestyle. The two stories mirror one another in many ways, but are presented from completely different sides of the spectrum. When the two tales are looked at closely, it doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that they occur

The portrait that Chaucer paints about the Miller is an observation on the lower class individuals of Medieval society. The first clue to this is the order that he is mentioned in. The Knight is first, and since the Knight is considered to be the most prominent member of society, then the order of the pilgrim’s descriptions must imply their order in society behind the Knight. Since the Miller is one of the last descriptions, it is implied that he is a lower class individual. The Miller’s opening description is a physical one instead of an abstract one: “big-beefed arms and thighs” (1528.533).

Over time, as new writers come to the surface many of them will reinvent past works. Some will put their own spin on it, and some will leave it the same and only make minor changes. This recreation of past works can be called an inter-text, or a text drawn from or related to another text. Baba Brinkman, a young Canadian, created the perfect example of this. Baba Brinkman took Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Miller’s Tale” and gave it a whole new spin. Brinkman took Chaucer’s old and archaic tale and twisted it into a modern rap that many people could relate to and understand. In Brinkman’s version, “It’s Miller Time,” he left the broad outline of the poem the same, but for readers that were expecting a word-for-word or line-for-line replica of

More people could find a character to relate to in Chaucer’s narrative since it had a more varied cast rather than the same style of character repeated again and again. In Milun and Lanval the main male protagonists are both knights “Milun was born in South Wales / from that day he was dubbed a knight” (Lines 9-10, France, 143). In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales all of the male protagonist come from different walks of life. In the Millers Tale the three men who are mentioned fit almost all three structures that the society at that time resembled.

Once upon a time, there lived a very poor and lonely miller. He went to go and speak to the king on behalf of the poor community of the countryside where the crime was high and morals low. However, in order to make himself sound important, he told a little white lie, “I have beautiful daughter that can spin straw into gold.” Thinking nothing about it, the miller continued on with his proposal. But the King stopped him in his tracks, “Gold, you say? You must bring her to me. Bring me the girl and I will provide safety to the peasants of the countryside where the crime is high and morals low. If she spins no gold within six days, and I find that you have spoken lies, then I will send my knights to execute you and all the peasants there too.”

One night of the “flood”, as usual, Absalom returns to Allison’s residency and begs for her to bestow a kiss to him. To his surprise, she finally accepts the request, hoping this will allow for the young clerk to leave her alone for good. On the contrary, instead of sticking her lips out the window, she throws her butt out for her and Absalom's amusement. Enraged, Absalom borrows a hot poker and returns to get revenge on Alison. This time however, it is Nicholas who places his butt outside the window and also allows a fart to escape in Absalom's face. The branded Nicholas begins to scream “‘Help, water! Water, help, for God’s sake!” and startles Josh, who is convinced the flood is coming (Chaucer, 79) . In response, Josh comes crashing down on from the roof and goes unconscious. The whole town thinks the carpenter is delusional because of his oblivion to the fact there there is actually no godly storm. It is clear to note the use of trickery and adultery in this fable.