William Shakespeare 's ' The Crucible '

This can be seen through a comparison of parallel protagonists Palamon and Ferdinand, as well as parallel antagonists Arcite and Caliban. Their many similarities reveal an insight to each author’s view of love and how it is gained. Palamon and Ferdinand are men of the heart who do not have the girl initially, nor do they claim her. Instead, they wish the best for her and are willing to work for and serve her, regardless of the outcome. In contrast, Arcite and Caliban are men of the physical who take the woman they love by force and physically serve her in order to fulfill their prideful desires, completely disregarding the wishes of their beloved. Strikingly, all four of these men are of noble birth, and all four willingly lower themselves from a position of power to a position of service in order to gain a woman’s love; however, only the men who also serve her selflessly succeed in winning her love. Both men of the heart end up “getting the girl” in the metaphorical sense, although it takes time and they must be patient. In contrast, the men who have the girl initially –Arcite and Caliban – begin by taking her by force and have her in the literal sense, but lose her in the end. All of these elements show that Chaucer and Shakespeare believe the selfless and humble approach to be the most effective way to gain

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.

By using funny descriptions and puns within his diction, he creates a satire that is both entertaining and political in nature. For example, the imagery he uses when describing the flatulence scene is both vulgar and timeless. He writes of Nicholas and Absolon’s interaction, “This Nicholas anon leet fle a fart,/As greet as it had been a thonder-dent,/That with the strook he was almoost yblent;/And he was redy with his iren hoot,/And Nicholas amydde the ers he smoot” (lines 3806-3810). Chaucer manages to compare the sound of Nicholas’s passing gas to thunder and says that it was so toxic that it almost blinded Absolon. The way Chaucer words this selection is so matter-of-fact and simply stated, that it increases the hilarity of the whole incident. Although Chaucer is entertaining his audience, he is also seeking to show the immorality of the every day people who surround him. This satirical use of language sets a tone that is both jovial and constructively

He knew nat Catoun for his wit was rude, that bad man sholde wedde his similitude” (Lines 113-120). Absolon on the other hand just wanted sex, and as much Alisoun despised him he would not stop stalking her. The Miller’s tale is cynical, because love is either misguided or lust and humans often are confused between the two. The author wanted to point that humans must know the difference or else the outcome would most likely be devastating thus leading to one’s own fault. While others might say this theme was not about love, but more about sexual desires, it was not the case. Sexual desires was only part of the theme because sex has always been alined with love in every relationship good or bad. Chaucer want readers to get past the sexual imagery and look at the love theme which incorporated in this story. The love theme represented the trouble behind human minds and how lust can be confused as love.

A man 's reputation in many forms is his, life’s work. To have your reputation dismantled is like taking away one 's accomplishments and life’s work. Arthur Miller 's The Crucible is a play about justice and injustice, and how our justice system can be easily corrupted. The story revolves around a man named John Proctor, the tragic hero of this story. John Protector is a symbolic character created by Arthur Miller, because he faced the justice system head on. Proctor’s biggest flaw would be his great amounts of pride, which unfortunately led to his own death. In Arthur Millers’ The Crucible, he characterizes John Proctor as the tragic hero of the story because of all that he lost, through his relentless crusade to free his wife and exposing injustice, illustrating that no hero is perfect.

In the story, Absolon tries everything to win over Alison’s heart. At night, “… Absalon his guitar hath ytake- for love he thought for to wake…Til he cam to the carpenteres hous…And dressed him up by a shot-windowe that was upon the carpenteres wal. He singeth in his vois geentil and small…” (244). Not only did Absolon serenade Alison at night, he would also give her gifts, he even became Alison’s servant, but Alison still did not love him back, the man she loved was Nicholas. By Alison loving Nicholas and not Absolon, shows that in this story the courtly lover is not the one that gets the girl but the guy that is the complete opposite of him, and is not at all noble or decent. Not only did Absolon not get the girl, but later on in the story he is humiliated by both Alison and Nicholas. By Absolon kissing Alison’s behind and getting farted in the face by Nicholas, shows how Absolon the courtly lover is being made fun of in the story. It comes to show that the whole courtly love in this story is all a joke and the author doesn’t take it seriously, and the whole time that Absolon was trying to win over Alison’s heart he was just being made a fool of, because Alison never loved him. All Alison did was take advantage of Absolon, by receiving all the gifts he gave her without regret and just using him for her advantage whenever she needed anything, in other words she only treated him like a servant. But in way it is also Absolon’s fault because he didn’t mind

In “The Miller’s Tale” Chaucer explains how the Miller was a drunk and pale man that did not have a wife or children, but even before telling his story, it wasn’t his turn by interrupting the Monk before him and begins to explain his story. The miller start to explain about a young girl called Alison and her husband called the Carpenter, Alison was an only 18 years old when she married her husband and he was an old man. They lived in Oxford the Carpenter would admire the beauty of his wife and how the town man would be envious of him for his wife. It also involved two other man Nicholas and Absolon these men were also young, Nicholas was a clerk that would happen to be a secret love affairs, but also very clever and discreet and Absolon was a foppish clerk and a handsome man that every woman loved. Those three men were in love with Alison, but affording Alison only

By analyzing two of the major characters, Nicholas and Absalon, and their relative success in relationships, explain what you believe Chaucer is telling us about courtly love though this tale.

Since the beginning of time people have always been afraid. Afraid of the sun, sharks, bears, snakes, women, men, life, death, divorce, Catholics, Jews, democrats, republicans, Italians, Mexicans, Asians, but the question is not who or what people have been afraid of, the question is why. Why have people been afraid for thousands of years? There is always a reason at the heels of horror, terror and despair. When people fear something or someone, paranoia and hysteria begin to break down the human brain and influence the decisions they make. Throughout history, we as a people have seen the abstraction of fear dominate the masses while at the same time, cultivate hysteria.

In both “The Miller’s Tale” and “The Reeve’s Tale,” Chaucer uses deception and cunningness as a form of persuasion. In “The Miller’s Tale,” Nicolas utilizes his cunningness to persuade Alison to have an affair with him. As he begins flirting with her,

In Chaucer’s “Franklin Tale” the plot revolves around a married couple: the knight, Arviragus, his young wife, Dorigen, and a young squire, Aurelius who importunes and attempts to Dorigen. The characters can be said to oscillate between desire and their ego honor which affects what they say and do. Lacan’s definition of desire tells us that we desire for recognition from this “Other.” Our desire is to become what the other person lacks. Duby’s model of courtly love is a concept that focuses on chivalry, nobility and women being at the center. In this paper, I will examine what the story reveals about the relation each character has to his or her desire, how they act in accordance to their desire and the role magic or illusion plays in the plot and how it affect characters’ relation to desire.

Nicholas does not share Palamon or Arcite’s passion for true love, and comes up with a simple hoax to trick Alison’s unintelligent husband John into leaving he and Alison alone for a night. The Miller’s story continues to stray from the Knight’s as a third luster is presented for Alison’s affection; Absalon, a parish clerk. As opposed to an epic battle for courtship, the story devolves into slapstick humor, with Absalon kissing Alison’s rear, and burning Nicholas’ in attempted revenge.

The Miller, in a tale opposite to the Wife of Bath’s, dispels the piety of marriage by saying, “A husband must not be inquisitive of God, nor of his wife, while she’s alive… For all the rest he need not greatly care.” (Chaucer 84) The Miller, because he does not believe relationships are a sacred bond held between committed partners, warrants Nicholas to take Alison for himself. The Miller’s love triangle illustrates his own seedy character by displaying marriage as an inconsequential pact.

Throughout this past semester, we have covered a lot of plays and their films that correspond within those plays. While I have learned a lot along the way I have found that there are certain plays that stuck out. Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, and The Importance of Being Earnest were among some of these plays from this semester. However, one of my personal favorites is The Crucible. I was able to uncover many themes from this play such as secret sin, lies and deceit, and religion.

Misogyny is not only visible in the Miller’s tale, but also in the Wife of Bath’s tale through the very superficial standards set for women by men. The old woman asks that the knight marries her in return for giving him the answer to the riddle and he reacts in disgust and horror, “‘...to take me as your wife…‘Alas and woe is me!...I am ugly and poor…my damnation! Alas, that any of my birth should ever be so foully disgraced!” (Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” 199-213). The knight is visibly distraught, using words such as “damnation” and “disgraced” when the old woman expresses her wish to marry him. He displays these emotions not because she wants to get married, but because she is ugly and poor. He is worried because an ugly wife will mar his reputation and is a poor reflection of him. This translates to the misogynistic society during the time period where women were seen as property to be shown off, rather than people who deserved respect. The recurring theme of misogyny in these two tales shows that Chaucer does not feel sympathy for the opposite gender, but instead belittles their plight.