Maggie Dombrowsky and Abby Keefer
Ms. Kingsley
AP English 12
01 May 2008
The Reeve's Tale:
Summary:
The Reeve's Tale begins by telling about a Miller, the story goes that no one would ever dare mess with the miller because of how intimidating he seems to be. He is married to a woman who was raised in a nunnery, and together the have a beautiful daughter and a baby boy. The story continues telling that the miller would steal the grain and meal that people would bring to his mill for grinding, he was known as Scornful Simkin. One of the miller’s best clients was the Cambrige college and like everyone else, he would steal from them. Two students from the college, John and Allen, found out about the dishonest miller and decided they were going to get one over on him. But, when the students went to the mill, the miller suspected they were up to something and when they were not looking he untied their horse and the horse ran away. The students then had to go out looking for the horse giving the miller the perfect opportunity, and he emptied some flour from their sack and gave it to his wife. By the time John and Allen returned from getting the horse it was dark so they asked the miller if they could spend the night at his mill. The miller said that was ok but they would have to share a bed. There was no light in the room, which was also occupied, by the miller's daughter, and the miller and his wife with the baby's cradle at the foot of their bed. After everyone had fallen asleep John and Allen decided it was time to get back at the miller for stealing all the grain and meal. So Allen got up and went to spend the night in the daughter's bed. John, feeling sorry for himself that he didn't make the first move got up and moved the baby's cradle next to his bed. Then during the night the miller's wife got up to use the bathroom, when she was feeling her way back to bed she got in the bed that was near the baby's cradle which was now John's bed, since he moved the cradle, not her original bed with the miller. In the bed with John is where the miller's wife stayed for the rest of the night. As morning was coming Alan said goodbye to the miller's daughter and she told him where the stolen flour was. He goes to return to the bed with John, however gets in bed with the miller because that is the one without the cradle since John moved it. He whispers to the miller, that he believes is John, that he had the miller's daughter three times that night. When the miller hears this he gets up very angry only to find his wife in bed with John. The miller's wife thinking she was in bed with the miller grabs a club and hits the miller very hard. Then Alan and John leave the mill very quickly. The Reeve's Tale ends with the proverb: "He who does evil must not expect good."
Character Satirization and Relation to Prologue: The Reeve is an older man who tends to serve himself and is a bit crotchety and bent upon his ways as he is described in the prologue. So when the macho Miller’s story offends the Reeve’s carpentry work, this old, bitter man decides to repay the Miller’s offensive story with one of his own, which he feels he accomplishes at the end of the tale – “Now I have repaid the Miller with my tale” (84) – so Chaucer uses this cynical character to satirize one of his least favorable characters, the Miller.Chaucer makes it very clear that he is not fond of the Miller’s character at all, and in the prologue describes him as essentially a man who was all brawn, who carried boastful weaponry, spoke cheap talk, and utilized many different deceitful tactics.The Reeve’s story demonstrates all of these qualities in the character in the story’s ways, and further illustrates Chaucer’s distaste for this stereotypical man within the job.Clearly, Chaucer feels that Millers are foul human beings who are bulky, slow, dishonest men.He displays this in the Miller’s attempt to cheat the men out of their grain and mony and letting their horse escape for his own personal gain.Even though the Reeve tells this story as an act of revenge, Chaucer manipulates him to further discolor the Miller’s reputation, thus revelaing Chaucer's own partiallity to this particular type of man.
Ms. Kingsley
AP English 12
01 May 2008
The Reeve's Tale:
Summary:
The Reeve's Tale begins by telling about a Miller, the story goes that no one would ever dare mess with the miller because of how intimidating he seems to be. He is married to a woman who was raised in a nunnery, and together the have a beautiful daughter and a baby boy. The story continues telling that the miller would steal the grain and meal that people would bring to his mill for grinding, he was known as Scornful Simkin. One of the miller’s best clients was the Cambrige college and like everyone else, he would steal from them. Two students from the college, John and Allen, found out about the dishonest miller and decided they were going to get one over on him. But, when the students went to the mill, the miller suspected they were up to something and when they were not looking he untied their horse and the horse ran away. The students then had to go out looking for the horse giving the miller the perfect opportunity, and he emptied some flour from their sack and gave it to his wife. By the time John and Allen returned from getting the horse it was dark so they asked the miller if they could spend the night at his mill. The miller said that was ok but they would have to share a bed. There was no light in the room, which was also occupied, by the miller's daughter, and the miller and his wife with the baby's cradle at the foot of their bed. After everyone had fallen asleep John and Allen decided it was time to get back at the miller for stealing all the grain and meal. So Allen got up and went to spend the night in the daughter's bed. John, feeling sorry for himself that he didn't make the first move got up and moved the baby's cradle next to his bed. Then during the night the miller's wife got up to use the bathroom, when she was feeling her way back to bed she got in the bed that was near the baby's cradle which was now John's bed, since he moved the cradle, not her original bed with the miller. In the bed with John is where the miller's wife stayed for the rest of the night. As morning was coming Alan said goodbye to the miller's daughter and she told him where the stolen flour was. He goes to return to the bed with John, however gets in bed with the miller because that is the one without the cradle since John moved it. He whispers to the miller, that he believes is John, that he had the miller's daughter three times that night. When the miller hears this he gets up very angry only to find his wife in bed with John. The miller's wife thinking she was in bed with the miller grabs a club and hits the miller very hard. Then Alan and John leave the mill very quickly. The Reeve's Tale ends with the proverb: "He who does evil must not expect good."
Character Satirization and Relation to Prologue:
The Reeve is an older man who tends to serve himself and is a bit crotchety and bent upon his ways as he is described in the prologue. So when the macho Miller’s story offends the Reeve’s carpentry work, this old, bitter man decides to repay the Miller’s offensive story with one of his own, which he feels he accomplishes at the end of the tale – “Now I have repaid the Miller with my tale” (84) – so Chaucer uses this cynical character to satirize one of his least favorable characters, the Miller. Chaucer makes it very clear that he is not fond of the Miller’s character at all, and in the prologue describes him as essentially a man who was all brawn, who carried boastful weaponry, spoke cheap talk, and utilized many different deceitful tactics. The Reeve’s story demonstrates all of these qualities in the character in the story’s ways, and further illustrates Chaucer’s distaste for this stereotypical man within the job. Clearly, Chaucer feels that Millers are foul human beings who are bulky, slow, dishonest men. He displays this in the Miller’s attempt to cheat the men out of their grain and mony and letting their horse escape for his own personal gain. Even though the Reeve tells this story as an act of revenge, Chaucer manipulates him to further discolor the Miller’s reputation, thus revelaing Chaucer's own partiallity to this particular type of man.