The Miller's Tale

Growing up during the Great Depression, Miller and his family have faced many hardships. His father was unable to hold a job during these years, but when Arthur was able to get a job, he did. He worked a variety of jobs such as a truck

To begin his tale, the Miller interjects after the Knight, interrupting the Monk. The Miller then apologizes in advance for what he is about to say; he is very drunk and may say some inappropriate things. After his short prologue, the Miller tells the story of a wild love affair between a woman named Alisoun and three men pining after her. The three men, Alisoun’s carpenter husband named John, a scholar name Nicholas, and a parish clerk called Absolon all take an almost obsessive interest in this eighteen-year-old woman. Although Alisoun is married to the carpenter, she quickly becomes secretly devoted to Nicholas after a short

In an allegorical sense, what are some similarities/differences between Miller’s time period and the time in which the play is set?

Such an intense reaction to the Miller’s tale—in which someone of the Reeve’s vocation is bested by a younger, more virile man—seems based upon the Reeve’s sudden need to defend his manhood against another man’s slander. By telling a story in which a carpenter is bested by another man sexually, the Miller has wounded the pride of the Reeve, who now must display a story in which a miller is dominated by another man to defend his masculinity. As Angela Jane Weisl explains in “‘Quiting’ Eve:Violence Against Women in the Canterbury Tales”, the need to reclaim his ego informs the Reeve’s desire to “become[] powerful and thus, violent, masculine” through his warning to the Miller that he might endure corporeal harm (123). By having the Reeve devise to reassert dominance over the Pilgrim Miller in such violent ways before the tale has even begun, Chaucer prefaces the clerk to share the same anxiety over requiting the tale’s miller through sexual

Miller wrote this mock-seriously. He wanted to joke without being to jokingly about it. Miller knew it was poor to judge others without proper evidence. He was being critical towards those who blamed others for something that they might not have done. “A political policy is equated with the moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence,” (34). Miller believed that people had moral rights, but under the force of a greater power, would do anything to anyone to gain respect in the

Even though Miller makes assumptions in his writing, he does keep the reader’s attention with a face-paced tone and long sentences with similes. For example, when Miller says “The notion that the principal, or only, purpose of going to college is to win a ticket of admission to the great upper middle

2. Explain Miller’s use of comic relief at the beginning of this act. How is this scene ambiguous?

Throughout Miller’s essay, he follows a similar format in the way he states his opinion about the connection between reading and writing to his readers. With every subheading, he tells a story of the influence of reading and writing on the protagonist of each story. Every subheading begins with the introduction of the protagonists through the final outcome of their actions. For example, the first story of the two boys, Harris and Klebold begins with the revelation of what they have done—murdering fifteen people with weapons they created on their own. This knowledge to create such weapons and to follow through with such an act is all blamed upon technology

Miller writes the story in a very unique way. He gives his readers a chance to explore the words written on his pages, with the hope that the reader is able to draw their own conclusions from his work. His unparalleled approach to the essay forces the reader to use critical thinking in order to make since of the essay. Miller’s feelings about reading, writing and the

The Miller's Tale is the story of a carpenter, his lovely wife, and the two younger gentlemen who are in love with the carpenter’s wife. The carpenter, John, is married to a much younger woman, Alison, who is considered a local beauty. To make a bit of extra money, John rents out a room in his house to a poor but clever cleric named Nicholas, who has taken a liking to Alison. The other man interested in Alison is a clerk named Absalon. Nicholas uses his astrological studies to convince John to prepare for a storm so he and Alison could have the night alone. With Nicholas and Alison alone, Absalon tries to get Alison to like him by singing to her but she does not find him attractive.

In the reeve’s tale, the main character, the miller is very envy and greedy for wealth. The miller was proud man who obtains the daughter of the clergyman who should be faithful and honest to husband due to moral by religion and wealthy which is partly from stealing. He appears as he got everything. However, he was also guilty of sloth due to aversion to make money by his own hands. When the two university students were being lechery with his family, he was angry and fight with one

“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 key point in the novel is the proper ethical behavior towards the Other, which is most powerfully manifested in Mr. Finkelstein. Miller uses him to show the suffering of Jews and the existence of anti-Semitism in America. Mr. Finkelstein, who works in his candy store in a Christian neighborhood in a Brooklyn Navy Yard, suffers a lot from threats and attacks intended to force him from the neighborhood. Actually, Mr. Finkelstein serves as a sort of Jewish Everyman, his experiences mirroring that of many thousands of American Jews. Despite his sufferings, he willingly puts his life at risk by coming to Newman’s rescue after the latter is attacked by thugs while returning home from the movies.

At first glance these two tales seem an incongruous pairing. The Knight's Tale is told by an eminent person, is an historical romance which barely escapes a tragic ending, and its themes are universal: the relationship of individuals to providence, fortune and free will. The Miller's Tale is told by a drunken "cherl" (MT 3182), is a farcical fabliau, and has "a plot, not themes"4. And yet, in my opinion, there is much to be gained by reading the Miller's Tale with the themes and

Despite this unflattering introduction, however, the Miller cannot be considered a loathsome person because his purpose is to provide comic relief. The Miller's appearance after the more solemn Knight creates a contrast in mood and provides the reader with a more relaxed feeling going into the remainder of the tales.