Compare/Contrast "The Miller's Tale" & "The Reeve's Tale"

Isaac Atayero

M r. John Campion

Advanced Placement English Language

November 21, 2011

  In Geoffrey Chaucer’s short story, The Miller’s Tale, the Miller tells an embarrassing tale about the Reeve. As an act of retaliation, the Reeve tells  an equally embarrassing story of the Miller in The Reeve’s Tale. Although shorter and bawdier, The Reeve’s Tale is not as well told as The Miller’s Tale. When the Miller tells his tale he is in a jolly mood while the Reeve narrates his tale out of retaliation.Despite the fact that the two fabliaux are responses to the stories told before them, The Miller’s Tale is a better parody of the tale that precedes it . The Miller’s Tale surpasses The Reeve’s Tale because the Miller is much more descriptive than the Reeve. With these observations, one should come to the conclusion that The Miller’s Tale is the better tale .

    The Miller’s Tale is more appealing because the Miller is in a merry mood when he tells his story while the Reeve narrates his story while he is in a vengeful mood.The host originally wanted the monk to “repay the Knight a little for his tale”(86) but before the monk could, “the Miller ,very drunk and rather pale”(86) interrupts and promises to “pay the Knight his wages”. The Miller then tells a rather raunchy tale “of an old carpenter and...his wife, and how a student came and set his cap”(87). Drunk and lighthearted, The Miller’s Tale is told for pure fun and the joy of telling a funny and ribald story. The mood of the merry Miller gives the tale an easy tone that is carried on through out The Miller’s Tale.

       Unlike the Miller, the Reeve tells his tale with the intention of avenging himself. The Reeve’s ill will creates an hostile atmosphere for his tale, this causes his story not to be as effortless as the Miller’s.The Reeve “was a little angry”(106) with The Miller’s Tale because “he was a carpenter by trade”(106) and The Miller’s Tale was about “how a carpenter was made a fool of”(108). The Reeve initially tried to stop the Miller from telling the tale by shouting “Shut your trap!...can’t you handle some other tale?”(87), but the Miller pressed on with his tale.The Reeve is angry because he thinks the Miller told his tale to “score off me”(108). Angered by this, the Reeve decides that the Miller should be “paid out...with my story”(119).Setting out to avenge himself causes the Reeve’s story to seem forced and insincere unlike the Miller’s story. The “drunken Miller”(108) tells a better fabliau because he is in a cheerful mood unlike the Reeve who was the only “soul it seemed to grieve”(106).

     The Miller’s Tale is superior to The Reeve’s Tale because The Miller’s Tale is a better satire of the tale prior to it. After the Knight’s tale, the Host asked “Sir Monk, if you’ve a tale to tell”(86) because he wanted the storytelling to be in order of social class. To the Host’s chagrin, the Miller interrupts and puts himself under the pressure to tell a story that equals the Knight’s noble tale. Although the Miller’s raunchy tale is expected of him, it is clever because it does not attempt mimic The Knight’s Tale rather the Miller uses his tale to banter the Knight’s. The Knight’s Tale was a “noble story worthy to be remembered for its glory”(86) while The Miller’s Tale caused “majority (to be ) dissolved in laughter”(106). Although the Miller draws parallels with the characters in The Knight’s Tale with characters in his tale, he puts a different spin on the characters. Arcite and Palamon,“Princes of the Royal Blood”(30) in The Knight’s Tale become “Nicholas the Gallant”(89) and “jolly Absalon”(93) in The Miller’s Tale. The Miller mocks “Emily the Bright”(49) with Alison,“the fair young wife...(with) a lecherous eye”(90). The Miller does not tell of idealistic characters like the Knight but instead low class people like himself. The Miller’s mockery of The Knight’s Tale is not only hilarious, but it is also a clever choice.

   Unlike the Miller, the Reeve does not mock the tale prior to his, instead he copies it.The Reeve wants to use his tale to “tweak the Miller by the cap, for lawful ‘tis to give him tap for tap”(108). Even though The Reeve’s Tale causes the “miller was (to be ) paid out in proper fashion”(119), it is not original. When telling his tale, the Miller used a different approach to repay the Knight, unlike the Reeve who just imitates the characters from The Miller’s Tale. “The silly carpenter” (99), from The Miller’s Tale parallels “the bumptious miller”(118) from The Reeve’s Tale. Nicholas and Absalon are strikingly similar to John and Alan, the“two poor young Bible-clerks”(110) that engage in intercourse with the miller’s wife and daughter.The Reeve simply expands on the Miller’s story. The Miller is more creative because he looks at The Knight’s Tale with a different perspective. By being more original, the Miller proves to be a better story teller than the vengeful Reeve. The lack of originality in The Reeve’s Tale is one of the reason that The Miller’s Tale is the finer tale of the two.

      The Miller’s Tale outmatches The Reeve’s Tale because the Miller places more value on words in his tale than the Reeve does in his tale.  Although the Miller admits “I’m drunk”(87), he uses surprisingly intricate and brilliant descriptions for his characters. The Miller goes into very detailed descriptions of his characters. The Miller is surprisingly very descriptive of Alison, he tells of “her apron was as white as morning milk”(90) and “her girdle hung a purse of leather, tasselled with silk and silver droplets, pearled;”(90). The Miller goes on and on describing Alison to make the readers and listeners aware of her femininity.The Miller’s comparisons of his characters and characters from bestiaries in his tale are a delightful and pleasant surprises for the readers. The Miller says Alison’s “body (is) as slender as any weasel’s”(90) to let the reader know that Alison goes from man to man for copulation. The miller compares Alison’s singing to a “swallow’s chirping”(90) and her skipping to that of “any kid or calf behind its mother”(90) to further illustrate Alison’s lustful lifestyle. In his tale, the Miller also says Absalon’s eyes were “as grey as goose”(92) because goose in bestiaries have a good sense of smell and later in the tale “Nicholas...let a fly fart...as if it were a thunder- clap”(105) in Absalon’s face.There are many intelligent comparisons and description in The Miller’s Tale.  The Miller’s Tale is better because he uses his words more delicately to help his readers and listeners understand his characters better.

    In The Reeve’s Tale,there is more value in actions than there is in words, which is why The Miller’s Tale is the better tale. The Reeve’s Tale is much shorter than The Miller’s Tale because the Reeve is rather quick in describing his characters.For instance, all the Reeve says about the nameless Miller’s daughter is that “she was a girl of twenty summers’ growth;...her rump was broad, her breasts were round and high; she’d very pretty hair”(110). Any other attribute or characteristic of the miller’s daughter is left to the imagination of the reader or listener. In comparison to the Miller, the Reeve says less about his characters and does not go in depth with their descriptions. Instead the Reeve places more importance on the significance of the deeds of his characters rather than on their features. Another good example is when the miller went “up to the horse...with quiet skill and strips the bridle off him there and then”(112). By doing this, the miller unknowingly provokes the students , who revenge by laying in bed with his daughter and wife. Another example of an important deed in The Reeve’s Tale occurs when John “steals towards the cradle, lifts it...and lays it by his bed”(116). John does this to fool the miller’s wife to lay with him but this action ends up confusing Alan and causes chaos in the household. Actions play a larger role in The Reeve’s Tale than words do. Being in a merry mood gives the Miller the advantage of taking his time with his storytelling, as opposed to the Reeve who rushes his way through his tale.The Miller, like any good storyteller, understands the value of words in any story. Unlike the Reeve, the Miller takes his time with his story, which puts his story above the Reeve’s. The Reeve obviously does not and delivers a swift story that races for the punchlines and denies the reader or listener the chance to get to know the characters. By placing emphasis on actions rather than deeds is one of the reasons that cause The Reeve’s Tale to come behind The Miller’s Tale.

      The Miller’s Tale and The Reeve’s Tale are exemplarities of what a good fabliau should be. However, The Miller’s Tale is more polished than The Reeve’s Tale for several reasons. Firstly, the Miller’s state of mind when telling his tale put him in the position to be a better story teller than the Reeve, who was in a vengeful mood. Secondly, the Miller does a better job of ridiculing The Knight’s Tale than the Reeve does when he pays back the Miller. Finally, by placing a bigger significance on actions rather than words , the Reeve robs his readers and listeners the opportunity of knowing his characters better. The Miller, on the other hand is very skillful when it comes to describing his characters. All of these reasons help one come to the understanding that the Miller tells the better tale.