A Comparison of Telling in Knight’s Tale and Miller’s Tale of Chaucers

The importance of  Telling in Knights Tale and Millers Tale   In the Canterbury Tales, the Knight begins the yarn-telling. Although straws were picked, and the order left to aventure, or cas, vex Bailey seems to have pushed fate. The Knight represents the highest caste in the social hierarchy of the 14th century, those who rule, those who pray, and those who work. Assuming that the worldly knight would tell the most entertaining and comprehensible story (that would shorten their pilgrimage to St. Thomas Becket), Harry tells the Knight to begin. The Knights tale of delight, loyalty, and battle is placed in the chivalric beg genre. The courtly romance concerns the mythical kingdom of Theseus, wealthy rulers, and pagan (mythical) gods. Throughout the tale, the Knight and the other characters refer to the concept of the wheel of fortune. In the beginning of the tale, weeping, broken women advance to Theseus to stand by them avenge their husbands. Although impoverished , they tell Theseus that they were all at one stain wealthy and of high rank. Even though Theseus is glorified and powerful now, the goddess bequeath spin the wheel of fortune and he will one day be low. The concept of destiny and the wheel of fortune represents the Knights let inance of an unexplained world. His inclusion of the mythical gods, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Diana furthers this idea. Emily, Arcite, and Palamon each pray to a diety, asking for help and their unattainable wish. In the end, father Saturn decrees Arcites cobblers last. Thus, paradoxical human emotions and senseless tragedy are safely distanced they are attri stilled to the will of the pagan gods. Similarly the love triangle in the midst of Arcite, Palamon, and Emily stresses tha... ...night, the Millers characters are not moral or undecomposed they simply want to gratify themselves. While the Knights story ends with an honorable death and a union between lovers, the Millers tale ends with humiliatio n the cuckholded husband is brand insane, Absolom suffered and prank, and Nicolas a painful burn. Consequently the Miller mocks the Knights prayer. He wishes the company well, but the content of his tale expresses his laughter. In a way he give back the Knights tale. The Miller tells his tale momentarily to amuse and and embarrass (the pass through and his own cameo appearance), while the Knight tells a story strong on sentence or meaning. The two different motives reveal the fundamental differences between the two men the noble Knight can still opine in a higher beautiful world, while the Miller cannot accept it ever existed.