Notions of power and class can be presented in different ways in literary texts. Some texts seem to pride themselves on the use of such ideas and ideologies, while others somehow subtly absorb the impressions and build them into the work. Nevertheless, conceptions of power and class can still play a huge part in the detailed understanding of a piece of work. Not only this, but they can also portray an author's own feelings and thoughts on things such as the class system and stratification of society. Two highly acclaimed literary texts which address the class and power ideologies are Geoffrey Chaucer's The Miller's Tale from The Canterbury Tales collection, and Maria Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent.

Before we begin to discuss how issues of power and class are central in the understanding of The Miller's Tale and Castle Rackrent, we must first try and define exactly what we mean...