"How does Chaucer use or adapt the literary conventions of fabliaux and courtly romance in "The Miller's Tale"?"

"How does Chaucer use or adapt the literary conventions of fabliaux and courtly romance in "The Miller's Tale"?" In this essay I am going to reveal how Chaucer uses and adapts the literary conventions of fabliaux and courtly romance in "The Miller's Tale". Chaucer plays around with the conventions of fabliau and courtly romance engaging the idea of a carnival narrative, which uses the reversal of roles. There is also a Latin saying the sprouts from this: "bais cul", which means, "kiss my ass" and basically sets the tone of "The Miller's Tale". Fabliau is a mediaeval verse narrative written for and by aristocrats in whom they make fun at the social appirations and customs of the middle classes. This is the first in the mockery. For the narrator is the miller who is brawny and big boned (L. 548 of The General Prologue) and would steal corn then charge three times the price for it to be brought back (L. 564 of The General Prologue). A man who has no social class whatsoever. The narrative is usually very sexual and earthy. It contains the main characters of a cunning woman, a prostitute, a jealous old husband, a lecherous student and a merchant or priest, of which the husband is normally humiliated. The characters are given no characterisation therefore no sympathy can be given. The main stories normally tell of a second Noah's flood, a misdirected kiss, or of branding. All the

  • Word count: 956
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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"How effective is Chaucer in establishing the General Prologue of "the Canterbury Tales"? (Line 1 - 43)

Edward Gillingham A2 English Lit. (The Canterbury Tales) "How effective is Chaucer in establishing the General Prologue of "the Canterbury Tales"? (Line 1 - 43) The General Prologue is developed through the conflict Chaucer presents between nature and life. Both his description of the scene and of the characters of which he writes, is seen to mirror this contrast and thus it can be seen as one of the many literary devices he uses to make the piece effective. I will show how these devices, the language he uses and the tone it creates allow his success in making the passage efficient. Chaucer opens the General Prologue with a description of the return of spring. He describes the April rains, the burgeoning flowers and leaves, and the chirping birds. The invocation of spring is lengthy and formal compared to the language of the rest of the Prologue. The first lines situate the story in a particular time and place, but the speaker does this in cosmic and cyclical terms, "Zephirus...with his sweete breeth." Chaucer is seen to use such descriptive terms as a celebration of the vitality of spring, using such lexis as: "inspired...engendred...bathed", and qualifies this with images such as: "smale fowles maken melodie." This approach gives the opening lines a dreamy, timeless, unfocused quality, and it is possibly surprising therefore, when he reveals that his true subject is not

  • Word count: 765
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Choose three pilgrims to show how Chaucer uses clothing, cloth, texture and choice of horse to convey character.

Choose three pilgrims to show how Chaucer uses clothing, cloth, texture and choice of horse to convey character. Chaucer's prologue to the Prioress is generally concerned with her appearance. The clothes worn would have been black. She wore a headdress which is what would have been expected of a Nun 'Ful semely hir wimpul pinched was' However, the fact that it is pleated shows how she is succumbing to the fashion of displaying her forehead. To follow fashion trends of the time is not what would have been expected of a Nun. Her cloak was neatly made which is perhaps supposed to be representative of her respectability. Accessories are also very revealing of her character. 'Full fetis was hir cloke' Chaucer explains her rosary - as string of beads used in reciting prayers. 'A peire of bedes, guaded al with grene'. Rosaries are typically black and the green of the Prioress' would have been very decroative. In terms of clothing and accessories, she seems to generally conform to what is expected of her, however she does so with a twist. As well as the rosary she decorated herself with a 'brooch of gold ful sheene'. Chaucer is describing it as being bright and shining. The words on it read 'Amore vincit omnia'. The words are translated to mean 'love conquers all things'. The broach is more symbolic of a romantic heroine than a religious figure. Chaucer is using the broach

  • Word count: 677
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Commentary: Importance of the Mihailov episode for the novel as a whole.

Commentary: Importance of the Mihailov episode for the novel as a whole. Tim Hoffmann English IB HL 29/09/03 During pages 492-505, special light is thrown on the character of Mihailov and the characters surrounding him. Compared to other sections, this episode is not particularly important to the plot. It does not involve any fundamental aspects that drastically change the rest of the book, but reveals characteristics and more importantly clearly shows Anna and Vronsky's relationship. This section comes directly after Levin and Kitty's wedding and the extreme happiness that ensued. This contrasts with this section as, although they show happiness, a blanket of boredom seems to lure over the entire section, for Vronsky in particular. Anna Karenin and Vronsky, who are lodging in Italy, visit Mihailov and this section shows many relevant connections to the rest of novel. In general, we find that Vronsky, who try's his hand at painting, when faced with the greater aptitude of Mihailov, stops his experimenting and allows Mihailov, a professional, to create a portrait of Anna. This shows Vronsky's weakness at this stage, and this same weakness is revealed earlier on in the novel. Although we are aware that Vronsky's love for Anna seems quite real, he does not attempt to tear her away from Karenin, but rather continues with many visits to Anna in secret. He does not stand up

  • Word count: 1423
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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By what means and how successfully does Chaucer convey the personality of the storyteller in the 'Wife of Bath's Prologue'?

By what means and how successfully does Chaucer convey the personality of the storyteller in the 'Wife of Bath's Prologue'? In the Wife of Bath's prologue, Chaucer's description of the Wife of Bath is very detailed and life like. It is difficult to believe this character is not a real person. Chaucer uses the Wife as a device to discuss social issues and status of the middle ages. Chaucer uses his knowledge of society and of the literature of the Middle Ages to give the Wife of Bath her personality. The Wife of Bath within one character is able to convey different views within society. The Wife of Bath believes in feminist views yet she conforms to the anti-feminist literary ideas of a Wife. The Wife is not a stereotype; Chaucer exploits all traditional things that men wrote about women and creates a woman who is bigger than all of them. Chaucer begins with Alison telling us that she is experienced in marriage, having had five husbands since the age of twelve. The Wife has a very businesslike attitude that suggests that she is also very capable of making a success in her trade as a cloth maker. The practical Alison shows her domesticity when she dismisses St Paul's statement that married women are like wooden vessels whereas virgins are like golden ones. She states that she cannot see much use in a household for golden dishes when wooden ones do the same job. "For wel ye

  • Word count: 1130
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does the tale of the Merchant reflect the character of the Merchant himself?

How does the tale of the Merchant reflect the character of the Merchant himself? Soumik Datta, Essay 4, 10 December, 2003 By including a merchant among the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer brought to bear across the entire interpretive range of his poem, an aspect of his personal experience of London that had deep resonances for an England in the process of developing its own mercantile character and accommodating itself to the burgeoning of fourteenth century continental mercantilism. Chaucer underscored the contemporary conditions in which through social station and occupation he was personally enmeshed, by including in various tales, characters who are merchants. The careful punctuation of the Canterbury Tales with figures with figures representative of the merchant class should alert modern readers to the social, political and moral tensions that permeated fourteenth century London society resulting from emerging market conditions. It is no accident that the 'Merchant's Tale' like the 'Clerk's Tale' is set in Lombardy. One can see in the relationship of the two tales, at least three kinds of association: hearing the 'Clerk's Tale' might simply have caused the merchant to think of the story he knew about the Lombardy in his experience. ; the behavior of Walter and Griselda might also have reminded him by contrast rather than comparison of his own Italian tale

  • Word count: 2398
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Throughout the 'Canterbury Tales' the theme of marriage occurs and generates discussion among the pilgrims. From your reading of 'The Miller's Tale', what do you think they might find interesting or provocative?

Julia Cloke 12JMW Throughout the 'Canterbury Tales' the theme of marriage occurs and generates discussion among the pilgrims. From your reading of 'The Miller's Tale', what do you think they might find interesting or provocative? In 'The Miller's Tale' the sanctity of marriage is played upon heavily, as during Chaucer's time all marriages were respected in the eyes of the Church and contained a very religious theme. We also see how jealously in a marriage can bring about conflicting ideas and actions, which can often lead to one person taking the other for granted. The whole foundation of marriage is questioned in 'The Miller's Tale' as Chaucer reveals both the good and bad in a married couple. Contrary to 'The Knight's Tale' which contains a story of courtly romance, of the ideal fantasy, 'The Miller's Tale' reveals to opposing side to marriage. Where as courtly love is all about wooing your future partner, showing off your airs and graces, the marriage in 'The Miller's Tale' is very much based on reality. Chaucer deliberately placed these two stories side by side to show just how contrasting they are and how one is based purely on fantasy, while the other is based on reality. Chaucer tries to show through the characters of Alisoun and John that marriage isn't the fairytale that it has been portrayed as for hundreds of years, but a relationship that contains both happy and

  • Word count: 1422
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and Contrast Chaucer’s Presentation of the Monk and the Pardoner

Compare and Contrast Chaucer's Presentation of the Monk and the Pardoner In the prologue for the Pardoner and the Monk Chaucer satirises both characters, the Monk is only satirised lightly in his choice of vocation, whereas the Pardoner is satirised much more harshly for his morals. As a member of the church, the Monk should devote his time to religious matters, for example coping out the bible by hand. The Monk however is satirised by Chaucer for neglecting his duties, many times in the prologue, "An outridere, that loved venerie,.... Ful many a deyntee hors hadde he in stable" This tells us that he had a lot of horses and loved hunting, not a sport encouraged by the church, in fact banned by them. There is not a direct criticism of the Monk contained within the description of the Monks actions, all it tells us is that Chaucer believes that the his priorities are confused, "And whan he rood, men mighte his briel heere Ginglen in a whistlinge wind als cleere And eek as loude as dooth the chapel belle" This indicates that the bells on his bridle were as attractive to him as the church bells, which were supposed to call him to prayer, this again criticises his actions as a monk not as a person. The Monk obviously is an obsessed hunts man, "Grehoundes he hadde as swift as fowel in flight; Of priking and of hunting for the hare Was al his lust, for no cost wolde he

  • Word count: 1252
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Miller's Tale - Analyse the narrative structure of the tale and the effectiveness of its ending.

Assignment: Miller's Tale Analyse the narrative structure of the tale and the effectiveness of its ending. I will be summarising what information is given to the reader at each stage of the tale. How the interest of the reader is maintained, how the ending is relevant given what has gone before. To conclude I will comment on what I feel the point or theme of the tale might be. Below is a brief summary of the main points of the Miller's Tale, from this we can see what information the reader obtains at each stage in the story. John, a rich old carpenter of Oxford has a young wife, the eighteen-year-old Alisoun, whom he guards carefully, for he is very jealous. He has a boarder, the clerk Nicholas, who makes advances to Alisoun; she quickly agrees and they determine to consummate the affair. Absolon, the parish clerk and village dandy, also lusts for Alisoun, but he woos her in vain, for Nicholas is there first. Nicholas tricks John into thinking that Noah's flood is coming again; John rigs up three kneading tubs, in which he, Nicholas, and Alisoun can float until the waters recede. When the flood is due, all three climb up into the tubs. John goes to sleep; Alisoun and Nicholas go back to the bedroom. They are interrupted by Absolon, who has come to woo Alisoun at the window. She promises him a kiss and puts her backside out the window. Absolon kisses it. He soon realizes

  • Word count: 658
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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From A Close Examination Of The Introductory Portraits Of The Knight and The Miller In The General Prologue to the 'Canterbury Tales,' Show How Chaucer Presents These Two Figures

Lucy Deeley From A Close Examination Of The Introductory Portraits Of The Knight and The Miller In The General Prologue to the 'Canterbury Tales,' Show How Chaucer Presents These Two Figures The Knight and the Miller both have completely different roles and status in medieval society. The Knight would be an educated member of society, whereas the Miller would be nearer the bottom of the social spectrum. The type of education each would have had is reflected in the language Chaucer uses in each portrait. In the Knights prologue Chaucer uses longer words and longer sentences. Chaucer lists all the battles the Knights has been in, and the long sentences used help to show the reader that the Knight is educated. In the Millers prologue shorter sentences and shorter words are used which infers that the Miller is uneducated. 'A swerd and bokeler bar he by his side' The two characters are defined by their role in society in the 14th century. The Knight and the Miller are complete opposites, not only in social status but also in terms of morals and values. The description of the Knight focuses on his deeds rather than his personality or physical appearance. This reflects the Knights character, that he is not bothered by how he looks to go on the pilgrimage 'All besmotered with his habergeon, for he was late y-come from his voyage.' This shows that the Knight is modest and

  • Word count: 804
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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