...Themes in Canterbury Tales Throughout an author’s literature, many times we find common themes; this is definitely true in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The reader can find common themes through many of the tales. In the Wife of Bath tale, The Miller’s tale, and the Pardoner’s tale, it is easy to see that one of the main themes through the book is that women are the downfall of men. In the tale of The Wife of Bath, the reader sees the main theme in Chaucer’s work. In The Wife of Bath’s prologue, she tells a story about a night when she and one of her husbands spent a night at home. Her husband would read to her from a book. On this particular night, the Wife of Bath was subjected to more of this book, and the reader is told of how the book explains that women are men’s downfall. The Miller’s Tale is another that supports the theme. The Miller’s Tale speaks of a man who is totally devoted to an unfaithful wife. In the tale this beautiful woman is having an affair with a friend of her husband. To have some time alone they made a plan to get him away. They tell her devoted and gullible husband that there will be a flood like Noah’s, and to make boats to save them. In an attempt to save his wife, the husband goes to the roof and makes the boats. He died, and again, the actions of an unfaithful wife lead to the death of an innocently man. In the Pardoner’s Tale, a male traveler, the characters in his tale give examples as to why women are the downfall of men. The characters...
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...whole of The Miller’s prologue and tale?’ This section of the story is crucial for later development of the story and how it concludes. Chaucer, through the narrator of the Miller, describes the character of Absolon proleptically (achieved through language and imagery) and these certain - rather outlandish - qualities also have a part to play later making the tale humorous. However, the description of the character is not significant in the prologue since Absolon is not mentioned explicitly; and reduces the overall importance of Absolon in ‘The Miller’s Tale.’ There are two possible reasons why Absolon was not mentioned in the prologue but both intentional by Chaucer. The Miller does not include Absolon before he telling his story in the prologue. This can be explained in two ways; both very important (especially the first) because it reveals not only the character of the Miller (who is used as a mouthpiece) but of Chaucer’s devices for making this play more realistic. One reason why the Miller omits mention of this character is Chaucer’s use to increase the realism of the tale. The Miller is known to be a man who ‘was of brawn’ and had ‘a werte’ which sprouted ‘a toft of heris’; he later describes Absolon who was ‘smal’ and ‘clippe and shave’. Chaucer makes this a strong contrast. Perhaps it is natural for the Miller not to talk about Absolon: he is not worth mentioning since he is not manly enough. The other reason, this one also increases the realism of the tale, is also...
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...always that one person who happens to get out of hand. Whether he had too much to drink or is just likes to antagonize others, everyone seems to recognize that particular person and his faults. Well in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales that role is filled by the Miller. He is rude and disrespectful drunk who aggravates the rest of the pilgrims. Throughout Chaucer’s frame tell narrative, the Miller is never seen in a good light. He invokes crude humor into his tale which distinguishes it from all other tales. The Miller is a multifaceted character in this tale, who begets conflict on the pilgrimage to Canterbury. The Miller’s physical appearance deeply reflects his personality. His fiery red hair is much like his outlandish personality. Much like his hair, he is a very noticeable member of the pilgrimage, but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. The Miller does not hold back in conversation and speaks his mind to the point of cruelty. He has a brawny physic that parallels to his intense and over-bearing persona. The Miller overwhelms conversations and stories told throughout the pilgrimage. He consistently interrupts others and takes advantage of those not willing to stand up to him. An obscene wart on his nose with red hairs protruding out of it, demonstrates the Miller’s human characteristic of annoyance. His wart was so repugnant that one could not stop staring at it. His personality has connection to this thought by the way that the Miller was so out there that one was...
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...Chaucer Essay “The Battle of the Miller and Knight” The Miller's Tale, the second tale introduced to us in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales brings us the saga of a carpenter named John, and his young wife Alison, whom he is very possessive of, afraid that if he let her out of her 'cage', she would fly away. Nicholas, an Oxford student whose talent involved "making love in secret", was a boarder at John and Alison's home, and had taken quite a liking to Alison. Also included in the tale, Absalon, a parish clerk serving the church and best described as a 'pretty boy', was in love with Alison too, and took daily nighttime strolls outside her window, singing love songs and strumming an old guitar. This tale of sexual adventures contains similarities and differences when compared to the first installment in Chaucer's book, The Knight's Tale. The Knight's Tale also included a pair of love-birds, though this time it was two men, two "knight brothers", who had fallen in love with the same girl. They ended up going against each other in a fight to win her hand. In the end, one man, Palamon, ended up winning Emily's hand in matrimony and they lived through a long, healthy marriage. After the Knight had finished his story, the Host pronounced the Monk to share the next tale with the group, assuming they would be going down the royal rankings of the people surrounding him. As the Knight had just told his tale, it would make sense to let the Monk go next. However, as the spotlight...
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...The Carpenter’s Wife During the telling of “The Miller's Tale” within The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer goes to great lengths to describe the character of Alison, the carpenter's wife. This is done not only so readers will have a detailed physical portrayal of her in their minds, but also so they can make inferences as to her character by the way she chooses to presents herself. The vivid depiction of Alison implies that she has very little value except as an object to be used for sexual gain by men. Furthermore, the lengthy, highly descriptive examination of her character when weighed against the almost nonexistent description of her husband creates such a contrast that the reader feels as if it is wrong for the two to be together. Chaucer begins by very briefly detailing the aspects of herself that she has no control over: she is 18 years old, fair, slender, and delicate. He follows this with a description of each article of clothing she wears. It quickly becomes clear to the reader that Alison is fully aware of how physically attractive she is, and she dresses to show off her finer attributes. She wears highly decorative clothing of embroidered silk rather than a more practical linen or wool. Even her purse, an object that only has to carry belongings, is decorated with silk tassels and “perled with latoun” (line 143). The apron she wears at first suggests some sense of practicality, as she does not want to dirty the clothes beneath it, but it is described as “whit...
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...Summary of CT The Canterbury Tales begins with the introduction of each of the pilgrims making their journey to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas a Becket. These pilgrims include a Knight, his son the Squire, the Knight's Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself. Congregating at the Tabard Inn, the pilgrims decide to tell stories to pass their time on the way to Canterbury. The Host of the Tabard Inn sets the rules for the tales. Each of the pilgrims will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two stories on the return trip. The Host will decide whose tale is best for meaningfulness and for fun. They decide to draw lots to see who will tell the first tale, and the Knight receives the honor. The Knight's Tale is a tale about two knights, Arcite and Palamon, who are captured in battle and imprisoned in Athens under the order of King Theseus. While imprisoned in a tower, both see Emelye, the sister of Queen Hippolyta, and fall instantly in love with her. Both knights eventually leave prison separately: a friend of Arcite begs Theseus to release him, while Palamon later escapes. Arcite returns to the Athenian court disguised as a servant, and when Palamon escapes he suddenly finds Arcite. They fight over Emelye, but...
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...The Canterbury Tales author · Geoffrey Chaucer type of work · Poetry (two tales are in prose: the Tale of Melibee and the Parson’s Tale) genres · Narrative collection of poems; character portraits; parody; estates satire; romance; fabliau language · Middle English time and place written · Around 1386–1395, England date of first publication · Sometime in the early fifteenth century publisher · Originally circulated in hand-copied manuscripts narrator · The primary narrator is an anonymous, naïve member of the pilgrimage, who is not described. The other pilgrims narrate most of the tales. point of view · In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him. Though narrated by different pilgrims, each of the tales is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, providing the reader with the thoughts as well as actions of the characters. tone · The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the naïve narrator’s point of view as Chaucer’s. tense · Past setting (time) · The late fourteenth century, after 1381 setting (place) · The Tabard Inn; the road to Canterbury protagonists · Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company. In the Knight’s Tale, the protagonists are...
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...Canterbury Tales AUTHOR · Geoffrey Chaucer TYPE OF WORK · Poetry (two tales are in prose: the Tale of Melibee and the Parson’s Tale) GENRES · Narrative collection of poems; character portraits; parody; estates satire; romance; fabliau LANGUAGE · Middle English TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN · Around 1386–1395, England DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION · Sometime in the early fifteenth century PUBLISHER · Originally circulated in hand-copied manuscripts NARRATOR · The primary narrator is an anonymous, naïve member of the pilgrimage, who is not described. The other pilgrims narrate most of the tales. POINT OF VIEW · In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him. Though narrated by different pilgrims, each of the tales is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, providing the reader with the thoughts as well as actions of the characters. TONE · The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the naïve narrator’s point of view as Chaucer’s. TENSE · Past SETTING (TIME) · The late fourteenth century, after 1381 SETTING (PLACE) · The Tabard Inn; the road to Canterbury PROTAGONISTS · Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company. In the Knight’s Tale, the protagonists...
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...In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer shows the faults through the rights and wrongs of how to live of both men and women in the Wife of Bath, Miller’s, and Merchant’s Tale. Geoffrey Chaucer shows the liberal perspective of women in the “Wife of Bath's Tale.” The liberal perspective is shown in women in the beginning of the tale by the king granting the Queen the power and decision to whether the Knight would live or die. Unlike most women during the Middle Ages the Queen had a mind and a voice of her own. Even though the Queen intimidates people by the power she possess, Chaucer depicts her as what men don’t want. The Queen has the power over life or death “And suretee wol I han, er that thou pace, thy body for to yelden in this place,”...
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...Professor Name English 101 09 Feb 2014 The Miller’s Tale Geoffrey Chaucer was a deeply religious person that was distressed about the level of corruption in his Church. Unable to come out and attack the erosion of morality and campaign against rampant corruption he put pen to paper. Chaucer used the Canterbury Tales as a way of attacking religious excess and argue that the Church should return to its pious roots. The Canterbury Tales were written from the prospective of a traveling Pilgrim coming across various people in his travels. These encounters are what lead to the tales. A prologue before each story lays out the purpose of the tale and what kind of tale it will be. The more rough and crude tales, such as The Miller’s Tale, are told in front of a raucous crowd that is usually in a pub or bar. These tales are often told to a loud and boisterous crowd and the pub owner often has to defuse tensions. Chaucer paired stories together as either a response to a previous story or an attack on a profession that would be refuted in the following story. The Miller’s Tale was the second tale and was the first story to quite or repay the story teller. It also should be noted that this tale followed a chivalrous and high society tale called The Knight’s Tale. Chaucer purposefully place The Miller’s Tale to occur after the The Knight’s Tale to provide comedic relief and contrast the previous tale. Further, the prologue to The Miller’s Tale sets the stage for the next story when an...
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...Geoffrey Chaucer’s collection of stories titled The Canterbury Tales and Dante Alighieri’s three-part poem The Divine Comedy have certain similarities and some differences that often have a religious theme. One of the most obvious comparisons between the two is that both authors wrote about significant journeys. While Dante wrote about traveling through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, Chaucer wrote about a group of people occupying their time while they traveled. The two authors had contrasting writing styles when discussing those journeys; Chaucer’s was more light-hearted and sometimes even risqué, while Dante’s was more consistently solemn and meticulous. Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, and Dante, author of The Divine Comedy, had some...
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...During the revival of the Renaissance, European literature started to show a transition of values into a more individualistic manner. Authors such as Baldassare Castiglione and Geoffrey Chaucer emphasized on, “... how individuals act and how their actions may impress their peers, rather than with the intrinsic moral values of those actions,”(388) through their works, “The Book of the Courtier” and “The Canterbury Tales.” In “The Book of the Courtier,” Castiglione speaks about the qualities that make the well-rounded person. Castiglione created a shift from feudal and Christian educational ideals and created a program for the development of the mind and body, also emphasizing manners rather than morals to impress your peers. The first attribute...
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...During the Middle Ages Courtly Love was appeared to be very strict as it was practiced all across Europe. Marriages were arranged by the parents during this time in order to increase the status and wealth of each family. Courtly Love had very little to do with love in the middle Ages. Courtly love is a medieval literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Courtly love was practiced in the courts but in tales it was shown through knights. But, where there were courtly love you, there were also sexual desires. In the middle ages, women were seen to be more lustful than the men which is different from modern day which men are seen to be more lustful than women. The knight’s, the wife of bath’s, and the miller’s tale are...
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...development throughout different cultures and historical time periods. The study of the development of the English language has been used to represent the specific ideals and notions that pertain to particular cultures throughout history. Anglo-Saxon poetry express its cultural identity and values that underpin Anglo Saxon society, through ancient texts such as Beowulf exploring notions of heroism and servitude. Middle English literature such as The Millers Tale, unmasks the inner feudal system that deciphers the hierarchal structure within Middle England. The Holkam bible through both visual representation and literature highlights the Biblical understanding at the time and cultural barriers that were associated. The Miller’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer is an example of Middle English poetry that represents the societal structure of the time through language. The Miller’s Tale expresses the hierarchal structure in Middle England through denoting each individual characters social standing within society. The Miller’s Tale entails the story of a carpenter who falls in love with a juvenile/adolescent girl (“Of eighteteene yeer she was of age”); a love triangle develops between three men and a woman, further digressing into a story of humor and irony aimed to satisfy the upper class. Geoffrey Chaucer depicts the carpenter as man who acts above...
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...Tales’ summaries The Wife of Bath’s Tale starts with a Prologue in which she gives an account of her colorful life with five husbands. The tale continues the main question of women’s desire for sovereignty over men. A young Knight rapes a maiden while she was returning home. As a punishment for his heinous act he has to discover within a year what women most desire. The Knight was searching in the whole country in search of the answer. At the end he promises to grant a wish to an ugly old hag in return for the right answer. When he has given the answer in court and secured his liberty, the old hug jumps up and demands that he marries her. The Knight begs her to reconsider and wish for something else but the old hag stubbornly refuses. The Knight marries her secretly. At night as they lay in bed, the Knight keeps on turning restlessly. The old hag asks him if he would prefer her ugly and faithful or beautiful and faithless. The Knight allows her to decide. The old woman is delighted to have won ‘sovereignty’ over her husband and rewards him by becoming faithful and beautiful all the time. The Knight’s Tale describes how two kinsmen Arcite and Palamon fall in love with the same woman named Emily, whom they first see out of their prison window. Emily is the niece of King Theseus. Arcite gains his freedom but is banished from Athens. He comes back masked since he cannot bear to live away from Emily. In the meanwhile Palamon breaks out of prison and coincidentally meets Arcite...
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