ipl-logo

Fabliau In The Miller's Tale Essay

1790 Words8 Pages

Fabliau in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales Chaucer’s motley compilation of travelers are cleverly used to display a wide range of attitudes towards daily life in the Middle Ages. The array of characters are also used in another way; to show off different literary styles common to the time period. Through storytelling, the cast of The Canterbury Tales allows the author to utilize various writing structures. One of these literary genres used throughout the chronicle is the fabliau, an originally French type of metered writing revived in Medieval England (Benson, The Fabliaux). A fabliau is an anecdotal short story full of uncouth satire and stock characters who are representative of attitudes of the time. The characteristics of the fabliau are especially prominent in The Miller’s Tale, which is a humorously raunchy episode when compared to the tales which come before and after it has been told. An inversion of the fabliau is also present in the story told by the Wife of Bath, as many qualities in this section of The Canterbury Tales mirror the ones active in The Miller’s Tale. By examining the characters, the plot, and the morals of the stories in question, the features of a true fabliau can be understood within …show more content…

Not only is the carpenter punished for his lack of youth and smarts, but so is Absalom for trying to win over Alison with his ostentatious shows of romance. The parish clerk sings at Alison’s window and calls her sweet names only to be misled into kissing her on a very disagreeable area, which is an undeniable jest made towards the idea of courtly love. The protagonist is not safe from punishment either, as he has a hot iron poker jabbed at his own rear when he tries to prank Absalom. Overall, the fabliau is comprised of many little entertaining lessons versus one encompassing moral

Show More
Related

Attention Getter In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

849 Words | 4 Pages

[attention getter]. Geoffrey Chaucer, in his novel The Canterbury Tales, deals with many tales of medieval life and morals. The writing follows a large group of pilgrims who have all been challenged to tell their best tale, one that teaches a valuable lesson, on the journey to Canterbury. Two of the stories told, “The Pardoner’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, make their points in very notable ways. The Pardoner tells a story of three men who come to pay for indulging in the sin of greed, while the Wife of Bath recounts a story of questionable morality involving a knight struggling for redemption after breaking his code of honor.

Read More

The Pardoner's Tale Comparative Essay

1053 Words | 5 Pages

Geoffrey Chaucer, considered one of the greatest English poets in the Middle Ages, composed The Canterbury Tales in the late fourteenth century. In the novel twenty-nine men and women representing all aspects of Medieval society embark on a religious pilgrimage to the cathedral at Canterbury in southeast England. On their journey their host engages them in a storytelling contest with a free meal as the prize upon their return. Chaucer wrote the tales in Middle English, the vernacular of the Medieval period, making his work accessible to all classes of people.

Read More

Media In The Canterbury Tales

1181 Words | 5 Pages

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, A Medieval Era Media? In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer sets a clear set of stories. Everything is planned and introduced to us beforehand. Prior to diving in to the tales, the General Prologue is brought forward.

Read More

Use Of Masculinity In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

2046 Words | 9 Pages

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, various characters tell stories that reveal Chaucer’s opinion against the church, masculinity, greed, and corruption. Among these stories, “The Miller’s Tale” is an example of how the use of masculinity reveals Chaucer’s voice. The men in the stories revolve around one woman, Alison, to assert their masculinity in some manner. Alison’s husband, the carpenter John, tries to protect Alison because of his age. He fears that Alison’s beauty and his old age would make someone cuckold him.

Read More

The Canterbury Tales Vs The Pardoner's Tale

761 Words | 4 Pages

Chaucer’s Best Story Essay In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, there are many entertaining values and moral lessons. In Geoffrey Chaucer's, The Canterbury tales, a group of pilgrims are journeying to the holy site of Canterbury. Due to the long journey, the host plans to start a contest between the pilgrims. Each pilgrim has to tell an entertaining story and the pilgrim with the most entertaining story wins a free dinner.

Read More

The Pardoner In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

630 Words | 3 Pages

Keri Scappaticci The Canterbury Tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer. In this book a group of people are going on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The characters decide to have a contest during the trip. The host decides that each person will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the return trip.

Read More

The Miller's Tale By Geoffery Chaucer And The Color Purple By Alice Walker

1482 Words | 6 Pages

Explore the representation of female sexuality in ‘The Miller’s Tale’ by Geoffery Chaucer and ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker The motif of female sexuality in regards to ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker and ‘The Miller’s Tale’ by Geoffery Chaucer is represented in two different ways, and having two contrasting consequences, as explored within the narrative in relation to the context of each work. In Walker’s novel, female sexuality acts as liberating for women, but specifically the main protagonist, Celie. However, in Chaucer’s fabliau (a brief comic tale written in verse) any liberation the main female heroine, Alisoun finds through taking control of her sexuality is ultimately subverted and restricted, treated merely as a moment of madness. ‘The Miller’s Tale’, an instalment in ‘The Canterbury Tales’, has a framed narrative which centres around a Narrator relaying the story of a “lewed” Miller,

Read More

Theme Of Humor In The Miller's Tale

1227 Words | 5 Pages

He also utilized fabliaux to fill his stories with multiple sexual accounts that poke fun at the rules of courtly love. Chaucer’s humor had three main components – mockery, irony, and sadism. John, an older carpenter, with a young wife, is at the center of “The Miller’s Tale.” Chaucer mocks John for marrying a younger woman and the fact that their relationship does not follow the rules of courtly love. Courtly love suggests that jealousy strengthens relationships and equates to love.

Read More

Fabliau In The Miller's Tale

765 Words | 4 Pages

The Canterbury Tales is not only a collection of individual tales told by the pilgrims, but an account of the personalities of the pilgrims and contrasting characteristics between them. One of the most abstract characters is the Miller based on his indifference to the rules and lack of care what others may think of him. The Miller’s role as a source of comedy and comic relief in his tale is shown through his elaborate story and way of presenting himself. He is also used as a contrasting image to the other pilgrims. Not only is the Miller used to show the dialectic between classes, but his tale also shows the differences between the classes, while being presented in a humorous way, as represented by its’ classification as a fabliau.

Read More

The Millers Tale And The Reeve's Tale Analysis

783 Words | 4 Pages

“The Miller’s Tale” and “The Reeve’s Tale,” two of the many stories in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, portray many similarities on the views of love, marriage, and immorality. Both “The Miller’s Tale” and “The Reeve’s Tale” portray what love truly means to the Miller and the Reeve. Chaucer’s two tales also exemplify the unfaithfulness of the wives to their vows of marriage. Additionally, the stories share corresponding similarities in the many instances of dishonesty and immoral features of the male characters.

Read More

Examples Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales

651 Words | 3 Pages

In the Canterbury Tales the Frair is expected to be a religious figure, the Monk is suppose to be poor, and the Pardoner is supposed to be honest, however Chaucer showcases their true identities throughout the poem. The Frair who is typically a religious figure, is actually a fraud in the poem. A Frair is suppose to be a festive man who enjoys

Read More

The Cask Of Amontillado Commentary Essay

1351 Words | 6 Pages

Commentary on: The Cask of Amontillado Salto de página Here we are going to explain briefly the purpose of each part of this commentary. Foreword INTRODUCTION Point out on what, the main discussion of the commentary is about and some information through research on the author, Edgar Allan Poe. Some historical facts about the main book on which this text was written within. Enumeration of the different character.

Read More

What Are The Similarities Between The Wife Of Bath And The Miller's Tale

694 Words | 3 Pages

The Miller's tale, however, discusses a much smaller group and the turmoils that occur between them in a much less fantastical way. This, however, is to be expected to some extent as they are two entirely different kinds of stories. The Miller’s being categorized as a fabliau by nature ensures that the humor is distorted, and mocking. We see this in the way it mocks the church, religion, and the institution of marriage. The Wife of Bath’s tale is categorized instead as a Breton lai, making it short, valuable, and

Read More

Humanity In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

786 Words | 4 Pages

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories that are verbally created as the Host requests that each pilgrim tell a story on the journey to Canterbury. Although this ultimately leads to conflict amongst the pilgrims, the entire spectrum of human personalities is presented by showing each character's qualities, flaws, and hypocrisy. In order to show multiple layers of perspectives, including that of the pilgrims, Chaucer as the narrator, and Chaucer as the writer, The Canterbury Tales is written as a frame narrative. The use of a frame narrative allows Chaucer to convey his own values in humanity by observing and reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of human nature.

Read More

Symbolism In The Miller's Tale

818 Words | 4 Pages

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Miller’s Tale” he uses symbolism as a literary element to create an underlying Christian theme that portrays the characters in the story as biblical figures. Each character of the story represents a different figure from the bible such as, Nicholas and Alisoun representing Adam and Eve, John the carpenter representing a Great Divine and Absolon representing The Devil. Throughout the story, there are many different aspects that highlight the Christian theme and allow the readers to truly see this interpretation. Throughout the story readers may recognize the alignment between Nicholas and Alisoun and Adam and Eve.

Read More

More about Fabliau In The Miller's Tale Essay

Related Topics

Open Document