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How Does Chaucer's Use Of Social Commentary In Canterbury Tales

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The Canterbury Tales is a collection of twenty-four stories regarding numerous pilgrims and their pilgrimage to Canterbury written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer. The subjects of these tales range from knights to the clergy to government officials, and catalogues their tales as they head towards Canterbury. The various tales in the work are presented in the manner of a contest at the Tabard Inn in London, in which the prize for the best story is a free meal upon their return. Chaucer writes the entire work in verse, as well as makes use of social commentary within the Canterbury Tales to express his views on the condition of society without stating them upright. To this day, some consider the Canterbury Tales the single greatest contribution …show more content…

From the very beginning, he states how the miller was a strong man “be it known,” appearing to warn others of getting involved with him, for when he describes him, it becomes apparent why he would not want people to get into confrontations with the miller, as he was extremely strong. His physical appearance is described as “hardy” and big of “brawn.” During this time, hardy meant daring and bold, while brawn described one with physical strength and not much intelligence, painting the image of a strong, daring man who lacks brains. This ideas is further supported by the miller “wrestling” and “always [taking] the prize away,” which shows how he likes to fight others and is very good at it. This detail continues to back up Chaucer’s warning of the miller to his readers. Furthermore, the miller has so much strength that he can lift “each door from its hinges that easy” or “break it through, by running, with his head.” This imagery continues to showcase his strength, but also the fact that people do not want him entering their establishments by literally closing their doors to him, though he just barges through the door. The first words of the miller are written about his strength, suggesting that this was the first thing Chaucer noticed about the miller. All of the imagery further showcases his physical strength, but also his animalistic

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Courage, weakness, and truth are personality traits that many authors incorporate into their characters. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller has three characters that are strong representations of these character traits. The Crucible is about these three things, which are represented by Giles Corey, Mary Warren, and Reverend John Hale. Corey represents courage perfectly in The Crucible. Corey has enough courage to accuse Thomas Putnam of “reaching out for land” in court (Miller III,1074).

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