Summary:
Examines The Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer. Compares the Millers Tale and the Knights Tale to the concept of love in our modern day society.
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 fell onto the Monk, it came upon the realization of the others that the Monk was unable to go through with his story, as it appeared he was drunk. So, with the utmost happiness, the Miller interrupted the Monk's babbling and started his 'fabliaux'.
It is apparent throughout the telling of this tale that The Miller's Tale, and The Knight's Tale were told by citizens of different social rankings. The Knight told of a time of chivalry where honor and love from afar were common happenings. A time of war and nobleness, and peace and hate, all rolled into one. On the other hand, the Miller shared a story of a time when everyone was struggling to get a job, trying to prove him or herself to society, and trying to get through all the hurdles other people and life threw at them. The ironic thing? The Knight and the Miller told of the same time era.
During the 1300's society was roughly separated into three different "groups", or social rankings. There were the Nobilities, who were the rich citizens, usually born into royal families, or married into royal families earlier in their lives; there were the Clergies, who worked at the church, most likely preachers, or ministers, or priests; then at the bottom of the pyramid there were the peasants: everyone else in society, who struggled to get by, and lived through more challenges, but were considered the simplest, and lowest of all the classes.
The classes lived differently, and thought differently, based on the fact that they were all brought up in various situations. They had different views on things in life, including love.
The Knight's Tale displayed love as a pure and wonderful thing. Love at first sight was possible; love was a delicate, magnificent gift that God had given them. It wasn't something to take advantage of, or something to be taken lightly. It was truly something to cherish.
The Miller's Tale, on the other hand, brings us love in a different way. It wasn't as much considered "love" as it was "sex." It was more of picking up each other in bars or 'pubs', and going to bed with them an hour later, as opposed to getting to know each other beforehand. In The Miller's Tale, Nicholas was a sex addict, and he was blunt. One of the first things we hear him say to Alison is asking her if she wanted to go make love with him. Love to him, and many of the people in the lower class, was merely something to do, and not to necessarily cherish.
It's not entirely possible however, that just because of a tale from two different social levels the Knight and the Miller displayed the classic example of both levels. Not everyone in the higher rankings may think or act like the people the Knight told us. That also applies to the people in the Miller's social class. It's somewhat like society today: not everyone agrees on certain issues, or looks at situations the same way. Everyone has different personal opinions. However, it is entirely possible that we still have social rankings in society today. We haven't changed that much in 700 years.
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