The Miller's Tale" is the story of a carpenter, his lovely wife, and the two clerks (students) who are eager to get her into bed. The carpenter, John, lives in Oxford with his much younger wife, Alisoun, who is something of a local beauty. To make a bit of extra money, John rents out a room in his house to a poor but clever scholar named Nicholas, who has taken a liking to Alisoun. Another scholar in the town, Absolon the parish clerk, also has his eye on Alisoun.
The action begins when John makes a day trip to a nearby town. While he is gone, Nicholas convinces Alisoun to have sex with him, and hence begins their affair. Shortly afterward, Alisoun goes to church, where Absolon sees her and immediately falls in love. He tries to win Alisoun's sexual favors by singing love
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With Alisoun, he hatches a scheme that will enable him to do this. He convinces John that God is about to send a great flood like the one he sent in Noah's time. He says that God told him they could save themselves by hanging three large buckets from the ceiling to sleep in. Once the waters rose, they would cut the ropes and float away. John believes him and duly climbs into his bucket. He thinks Nicholas and Alisoun are doing the same, but in fact, they are spending the night together in John's bed.
That same night, Absolon comes to the window and begs Alisoun to give him a kiss. At first she refuses him, but she finally appears to give in. Instead of presenting her lips to Absolon's, though, she sticks her butt out the window, and Absolon kisses her "ers" in the dark. Angry at being fooled, Absolon gets a hot poker with which he intends to brand Alisoun. When he comes back to her window, though, Nicholas sticks his butt out in an attempt to get in on the joke. Absolon brands him with the hot poker, and he cries out "Water!" to assuage the
After all of the witch trials in 1692 concluded a total of 20 people were hanged all because of people craving attention and personal gain. There are three people depicted in Arthur Miller's The Crucible that are most responsible for this and they are, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the Salem witch trials because she was the first person to start accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Judge Danforth is responsible because he is not concerned about justice, all he cares about is being correct about the witch trials. Lastly Thomas Putnam is guilty of causing the witch trials because he was able to have people accuse other people
How many people have you met in your life that is stronger because of a difficult experience they went through? Most people are because we take these difficult experiences and grow from them and become better people. This is the exact case is expressed in the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. The story begins in Salem, Massachusetts 1692 right in the middle of a period of witchcraft hysteria. During this time many people were accused of being witches and wrongly convicted by judges Danforth and Hathorne. The characters in the story are struggling because of a girl named Abigail who gets caught practicing witchcraft and then starts naming and accusing others so that she doesn’t get in trouble; one of these people being a well-respected farmer, John Proctor’s, wife Elizabeth. The title, The Crucible, refers to a test, trial, ordeal, formation by fire, and vessel baked to resist heat, and the entire story is an allegory meaning it has a hidden meaning. John Proctor symbolizes a crucible by embodying the definition of one, as he went through a test and was formed by fire.
“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.
How Secrecy is Presented in The Miller’s Tale Secrecy is a prominent theme in The Miller’s Tale and Chaucer uses it to not only make the tale more interesting but also to give the characters more depth, or in the case of Alison less depth. The way that secrecy is presented and what effects it has will be discussed. Chaucer introduces the reader to secrecy at the beginning of the tale in The Miller’s Prologue, indicating its importance, ‘An housbande shal not been inqusitif of Goddes privetee,’ and this immediately makes the reader assume that at least one of the characters will in fact be inquisitive of ‘Goddes privetee’ and that there will be secrets in The Miller’s Tale.
Alison in the Miller's Tale and May of the Merchant's Tale are similar in several ways. Both are young women who have married men much older than themselves. They both become involved with young, manipulative men. They also conspire to and do cuckold their husbands. This is not what marriage is about and it is demonstrated in both tales. What makes the Miller's Tale bawdy comedy and the Merchant's tale bitter satire is in the characterization. In the Miller's tale we are giving stereotyped characters. The principals are cardboard cut-outs sent into farcical motion. The Merchant's Tale gives us much more background and detail of the character's lives. The reader is more involved and can
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
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a famous play which was written in the early 1950’s. The Crucible is a play based upon the events in 1692, which led to the ‘Salem Witch Trials’, a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft. This was due to the hysteria caused by a group of girls accusing innocent people of witch craft. The play was set in Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Salem was a very isolated and puritanical community, so their biggest fear was the devil and witchcraft. A person being accused of witchcraft was the worst thing possible in this society.
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the witch trials in Salem were a devastating time. The entire community was in disorder and chaos because of personal vengeance. This included accusations of innocent town’s people being called witches, so they hanged and were jailed. Throughout the play certain characters help the rise of witchcraft as well as the disapproval of all the innocent people who were being convicted for no reason. Reverend Hale is a dynamic character whom comes to rid of the evil spirits in Salem, yet he later tries to end the trials. Hale realizes the accusations are false, attempts to postpone the hangings, and persuade the victims to lie conveys that he is a dynamic character and changes throughout the play.
The author Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the book “The Canterbury Tale” and also added several stories. I chose to write about. “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Miller’s Tale”, because both of them are so equally different, but have some similarities for example, in “The Knight’s Tale” talks about the knight’s and how they are so respected and honorable man’s. “The Miller’s Tale” is about a love triangle that involves one woman and three men and how the miller is not a respected man and doesn’t keep his promises.
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.
Since the beginning of theatre, there have been numerous playwrights who have made their attempt at greatness. Most have failed, some have had minor success, and a slim few have succeeded. Arthur Miller was an inventive, determined playwright who made a lasting impression on theatre in the 20th century. He was a head-strong, willful individual who conquered obstacles when they presented themselves. Through a brief examination of Arthur Miller’s personal life, career as a playwright, and influence on theatre, it is clear to see that he was a very innovative and impactful individual whose effects can still be seen today.
cheats Alan and John out of a fair amount of grain, and the scene where
The Canterbury Tales seems different from other stories that I am used to but in real sense this is not the case. The author has just tried to use a different of stiles like a story within a story to accomplish his purpose. The author uses characters within the story to narrate their stories instead of himself. For instance, where the host request the Monk to narrate his tale next, the Miller who is drunk by then interrupts. He insists his tale should be the next. The Miller narrates a story of Nicholas who was an impoverished student and how he managed to convince his landlord’s wife to sleep with him.
Noted earlier, the Miller’s tale is enjoyable due to its qualities of both entertainment and the idea of learning a lesson. In the prologue, the miller is defined as a filterless, rowdy drunk who speaks whatever comes to his mind. Because of this, he is portrayed as very vulgar and a nuisance since he easily offends others. The Reeve introduces the Miller at the beginning of the story as a drunk, impulsive, bully as he
When William arrives at the manor house he could now hear his father in another one if his bad humors and ranting on. He tries to close the door quietly. His father's mind may be going, but nothing gets past his father's ears. "William??? William you come in here this instant!! Did you hear me boy?? Now." William shakes his head and enters the room where his father is furiously pacing the floor. “Where have you been? Storming off like that when your duty to your family and people are here!! You must learn responsibility. You are so weak, I’m surprised you are part of my bloodline!! Why couldn't you be more like your brother?” William quickly turn and faced his father. His face full of rage and resentment. "I am not my brother, don't want to be like my brother, and my