Teller of the Tale: Miller
Title of the Tale: The Miller’s Tale
Teller’s Social Standing:
Main Characters: (brief description and relationship):
John –Rich, old carpenter married to a young beautiful wife
Teller’s Description (from the Prologue)
weighed 16 stone (224 lbs); stout and brawny; broad, knotty, shortshouldered
bristly red hair; furnace-like mouth; black nostrils; hairy wart on nose
Alison – 18 years old; married to the old carpenter; wild as a colt; in love
with Nicholas; sought after by Absalon
Nicholas – young student who rented a room from John, the carpenter in
love with Alison; came up with a plot so the two of them could be together
blue hood and white coat; had sword and buckler at his side
Absalon – Parish Clerk who is also in love with Alison; he is made a fool of by
Nicholas and Alison.
good wrestler; could heave any door off its hinges
Plot Synopsis (conflict and resolution)
wrangler; buffoon told filthy tavern stories
Nicholas and Alison want to be together, even though she is married to
John. The two agree that they will come up with a plot so they can. Nicholas
stays in his room for a while. John becomes worried about him. He looks
through the key hole in the door and sees Nicholas on the bed in a fit. John
wakes him up and Nicholas tells him about a tsory about Noah’s flood
coming again. The three of them will be the only survivors. John must get
supplies for day and get tubs for the three to stay in and rope to tie up the
tubs in the rafters. After working all day, John, Alison and Nicholas get into
the tubs. John falls asleep. Nicholas and Alison get down and go to bed.
Absalon comes to the house to profess his love for Alison. Alison agrees to
give him a kiss to keep him quiet. Instead of putting her lips out the window,
she puts her hind end out and Absalon kisses it. Nicholas and Alison giggle
and Absalon realizes he has kissed her hiney. Absalon goes to the smith and
gets a hot coulter to get revenge. Absalon knocks at Alison’s door again and
offers Alison a ring for a kiss. This time, Nicholas sticks his hiney out the
window and farts. Absalon gets angrier and brands Nicholas on the hiney
with the hot coulter. Nicholas screams out “water” and John wakes up and
thinks “Nowell’s Flood” has come. John cuts the ropes and he and the tub
fall to the ground. John breaks his arm twice. He is laughed out of town as
Alison and Nicholas tell the town he is crazy and they don’t have a clue what
he is talking about.
master at stealing grain; put his thumb on the scale
played bagpipes and led group out of town
How is the tale related to the teller? Why is he telling the tale?
The Miller tells a tale about a carpenter. He can’t stand the Reeve and tells
this story to make the Reeve look like a fool.
Teller of the Tale: Reeve
Title of the Tale: The Reeve’s’s Tale
Teller’s Social Standing:
Main Characters: (brief description and relationship):
John and Alan - young college students
Teller’s Description (from the Prologue)
old, choleric, thin closely shaven beard; hair docked like a priest; thin legs
with no calf
rode a dapple grey stallion named Scot
wore a long overcoat of bluish shade tucked under his belt;
had a rusty blade at his side
Description of Actions
stole from his landowner; no one could catch him in arrears
he could judge how large his crop would by watching the drought or rain
he was feared by those underneath him
he was better at finding bargains than his master
he had a lovely dwelling on a hill – purchased with money he stole from his
master.
he would give his master fine gifts or loans using money stolen from the
master
he was a fine carpenter
How is the tale related to the teller? Why is he telling the tale?
The Reeve tells a story about a Miller in order to gain revenge over the
Miller for telling a story making the reeve look like a fool.
Miller, Wife, and baby
Molly – Miller’s young daughter
Plot Synopsis (conflict and resolution)
The Manciple of a university is ill. Many have been sent to the Miller to have
grain milled, but the Miller steals from each. John and Alan go to the Miller
knowing this and decide upon a plan to make sure they make it home with
all their flour. One stands at the top of the mill and one stands at the
hopper where the flour comes out and nothing will be stolen. They do this,
but then find that their horse has been let out while the grain was being
milled. It takes them 5 hours to get the horse back. By that time it is too late
to go back to Cambridge. They ask the Miller to rent them a room, but he
only has one room in the house. He offers a pallet on the floor. The boys
agree and offer to pay for dinner. Molly goes to town to get ale, and the
miller cooks a goose. Everyone eats and drinks their fill. The Miller and his
wife go to bed early very drunk. The boys and Molly stay up and finish the
cask of ale and go to bed. After a while Alan gets up and gets into bed with
the Miller’s daughter. Then the Miller’s wife gets up to go to the bathroom.
While she is gone, John moves the cradle at the foot of the Miller’s bed so
the wife will get in bed with him. Before daybreak, Alan thanks Molly and
tells her he must get back in bed with John so her father doesn’t find them
in bed together. He gets back in bed with the Miller, because the cradle is at
the foot of the wrong bed. Alan tells the Miller (who he thinks is John) about
the fun he had last night. The Miller starts beating on Alan. The Miller’s wife
wakes up and tells John (who she thinks is her husband) that the boys are
fighting and he needs to stop it. The wife finds a stick and starts beating on
what she thinks is one of the boys, but it is really her husband. While this is
going on, Molly tells Alan that the flour she stole is behind the door in the
mill. Get it and leave. They do and never pay for dinner either. Miller looks
like a fool…boys bedded his wife and daughter; he had to pay for dinner; he
lost the stolen flour.
Teller of the Tale: Pardoner
Title of the Tale: The Pardoner’s Tale
Teller’s Social Standing:
Main Characters: (brief description and relationship):
3 Rioters
Teller’s Description (from the Prologue)
Old man
yellow hair that hung down his back in rattails
Plot Synopsis (conflict and resolution)
wore no hood
Three drunken rioters end up in a pub after a long night of drinking. A
funeral passes by the pub and the rioters ask a knave to go find out who has
died. The knave says he knows it is one of their friends killed by the plague.
The boys are still drunk and vow to kill death. They leave the pub and start
looking for death. Around the corner they find an old man. They harass the
old man about being old. He states that he has begged to die, prayed to all,
even his dead mother, but he is never taken. The boys ask if he has seen
death. He tells them Death is over the hill under the tree. The boys go there
and don’t find death. There they find 3 bushel baskets of gold. The boys
know that they can’t bring the gold home during the day, so they come up
with a plan to bring it to their homes under cover of dark. They must have
food and drink. They draw straws to see who goes to town for wine and
bread. The longest straw was drawn by the youngest and he hurries off to
town. While he is gone, the two left devise a plan to split the gold between
the two of them. When the youngest returns they will jump him and stab
and kill him. Then they will split the gold. The youngest also comes up with a
plan to get all the gold for himself. He goes to the druggist to get rat poison.
He gets bottles for the wine. He puts poison in two bottles with the wine
and keeps one bottle clean. He then heads back to the gold. When he
returns, the two with the gold jump and kill him. Then the two surviving
boys drink the poisoned wine and die.
bulging eyes
goat like voice
never had facial hair
Description of Actions
liked to sing; was a gelding or mare
put wallet full of pardons from the Pope in his hood; sewed a holy relic on
his cap
had a pillow case he said was Our Lady’s veil
said he had a piece of the sail of Peter’s boat when Jesus walked on water
could preach a good sermon, sing a fine service
had pig bones is a bottle he said were holy relics
How is the tale related to the teller? Why is he telling the tale?
The Pardoner tells a tale talking about avarice and how it affects life…even
though he makes his living from avarice
Teller of the Tale: The Wife of Bath
Title of the Tale: The Wife of Bath’s Tale
Teller’s Social Standing:
Main Characters: (brief description and relationship):
King
Teller’s Description (from the Prologue)
Queen
wore red hose, soft new shoes wore red clothing and red hat. wore a
amntle to cover her large hips and protect her clothing from dirt
Knight
bold face – handsome and red; gap-toothed; deaf
married 5 times at the church door ( first time at 12)
wove fine cloth; made handkerchiefs and sold them at market in Bruges
been on many pilgrimages
skilled in wandering
knew remedies for loves mischances (love potions)
How is the tale related to the teller? Why is he telling the tale?
She gained mastery over her 5th husband after he beats her mercilessly.
Tells a tale about finding out what women desire most
Ugly woman
Plot Synopsis (conflict and resolution)
A knight is on trial in King Arthur’s court for the rape of a young maiden. The
king finds him guilty and orders his death. The Queen and the ladies of the
court are saddened. They petition the court and the Queen is handed the
fate of the knight. The Queen saves his life for the time being. She has given
him a quest…to find what women most desire. He has a year and a day to
find the answer and return to the Queen with it. The knight agrees to this to
save his life. He leaves and starts asking all over what women most desire.
He receives a different answer everywhere he goes. No one can come up
with the same answer. The year and a day are up and the knight is headed
home. He finds a group of dancing ladies. When he comes up on them, he
finds only an ugly old woman. He asks her and she tells him that she has the
answer. Take her to court and she will tell him. It the answer is correct, he
must do the first thing she requests. The knight agrees and they head off to
tell the Queen. In court, the old woman’s answer is correct. The Queen
spared the knight’s life. The old woman leaps for joy and then requests that
the knight marry her as the request. The knight balks, but realizes he must
do it. They marry. The knight is a reluctant husband, because of the
woman’s lack of wealth, looks, nobility, age and plainness. She addresses
each of the issues he has with her and agrees to change things if he shows
her more courtesy. Then the old woman asks the knight if he would rather
have her old, ugly, and faithful or young, beautiful and never sure of her
faithfulness. The knight tells her to pick whichever one she wants. He
doesn’t care…he is angry that he has been tricked into marrying an old
woman. She states that he has given her a say in the marriage and changes
into a young beautiful woman who will be faithful to him all the rest of their
days.