Chaucer’s “Prologue to Canterbury Tales” has 30 stories from his different characters. Each story is filled with irony and satire, where his “Miller’s Tale” will be our today’s discussion. We will also analyze how “Miller’s Tale” resembles the present time and medieval culture.
We find unhappy relationships, misuse of religion, and a competition satirically discussed in Miller’s Tale, which we can also see in the contemporary world.
Let’s start with unhappy relationships. In today’s world, people still strive hard to find a perfect person, and many believe that love is not absolute, as they spend their lives with someone they don’t love. From the reference to Miller’s Tale:
To Alison now wol I tellen al My love
Longynge, for yet I shall nat mysse
Absolon discusses love and doubt and mentions that this feeling might be a lie and that people desire physical attraction. This issue is also common in modern society.
Misuse of religion is a controversial topic that is raised in Miller’s Tale. Unfortunately, we can also find such misuses in our modern world because religion has been a solid method to control people in any era.
And al above ther lay a gay sautrie, On which he made a-nyghtes Melodie. So sweetly that all the Chambre rong; And Angelus ad virginem he song
Here, religion is being used for Nicholas to show praying and pity as a pang of guilt, which he does not have. Similarly, people still use religion in the modern world to achieve their aims.
Competition has been here among people to compete and surpass each other in any field to prove themselves better. Human nature hasn’t changed since Chaucer wrote his Canterbury Tales. In Miller’s Tale, the people are also in competition, whether for social status or love.
For som folk wol ben wonnen for richessse, And somme for strokes, and somme for gentilesse
In the above quote, Alisoun considers love as a prize she wants to win. But like in the contemporary world, competition remains an inevitable part of life.
From Canterbury Tales, we can find many examples that still resemble today’s world. Chaucer generously portrayed human nature. The most critical points in Miller’s Tale were a relationship, misuse of religion, and competition for everything. The beauty of satire is also transparent in this tale which helps to understand the absurdity of such issues.
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