"The Miller's Tale"

Paper Summary:

Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale" is the perfect story to demonstrate the characteristics of courtly love by mocking them. The writer discusses how, in this tale, one does not see the traditional chivalric codes that we see in "The Knight's Tale". It shows that, by placing these two tales together, Chaucer's farce is even more hilarious. "The Miller's Tale" consists of unfaithful characters that connive to get what they want. The writer points out that the tale also rewards bad behavior because Alison and Absalom are never reprimanded for what they do. Furthermore, John is humiliated and is never able to redeem himself. It concludes that "The Miller's Tale" highlights the rituals of courtly love only by disparaging them.

From the Paper:

"Literary critics have observed that "The Miller's Tale" is a tabliau, which is described as a "short story in verse that generally involves bourgeois of lower-class characters in an outrageous, often obscene plot, which is, however, realistically handles by the narrator" (Abrams 116). Abrams also notes that the Miller's Tale is generally considered the "best-told fabliau in any language" (116). This is certainly the case when we consider how Chaucer delivers this tale. The character telling the tale is just as important as the characters in the tale."

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