Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales

The Miller

The Manciple

The Reeve

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Miller

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Miller

• Characterization– Diction

• “The Miller was a chap of sixteen stone,/ A great stout fellow big in brawn and bone.” (547-548)– A stone is 14 pounds– The Miller weighs around 225 pounds– Big man

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Miller

• Animal Imagery– Ram– Sow– Fox

• The Miller is strong like an animal• The Miller has animal passions

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Miller

• “And, at its very tip, his nose displayedA wart on which there stood a tuft of

hair Red as the bristles in an old sow’s ear. His nostrils were as black as they were

wide.”(554-557)

– Not an attractive man

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Miller

• “His mighty mouth was like a furnace door.” (561)

– A furnace door mouth symbolizes the mouth of hell

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Miller

• “His was a master-hand at stealing grain.He felt it with his thumb and thus he

knewIts quality and took three times his

due” (564-566)– Cheats his customers

• Puts thumb on the scale when weighing grain

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Miller

• Purpose of the Diction– paints the Miller in a negative light– he is dishonest

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Miller

• Our Reaction to the Miller– We do not like him– We do not trust him– We are intimidated by his size

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Manciple

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Manciple

• Characterization– Diction

• “Now isn’t it a marvel of God’s graceThat an illiterate fellow can

outpace The wisdom of a heap of learned men?”

(576-579)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Manciple

• Satire – Miracle

• usually references an act of God, but in this case no divine intervention is necessary to explain his behavior

– Illiterate fellow• mocks the intelligence of the Manciple

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Manciple

• “And yet this Manciple could wipe their eye.” (590)

– “wipe their eye”• A British expression for getting the better

of someone

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Manciple

• Purpose of Diction– Demonstrates that the Manciple is not smart

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Manciple

• Our Reaction to the Manciple– Not a severe reaction– We laugh at him– Not much of an opinion– Relatively forgettable character

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Reeve

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Reeve

• Characterization– Diction

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Reeve• “No auditor could gain a point on him.

And he could judge by watching drought and rainThe yield he might expect for seed and grain.His master’s sheep, his animals and hens,Pigs, horses, dairies, stores and cattle-pensWere wholly trusted to his government.And he was under contract to presentThe accounts, right from his master’s earliest years.No one had ever caught him in arrears.No bailiff, serf or herdsman dared to kick,He knew their dodges, knew their every trick;Feared like the plague he was, by those beneath.”

(588-609)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Reeve

• Frugal

• Manages the estate very well

• No one dares to cheat him

• He is skimming a profit for himself– Arrears

• Debts that are unpaid or overdue– Never caught

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Reeve

• “A better hand at bargains than his lord,He had grown rich and had a store of

treasureWell tucked away, yet out it came to

pleasureHis lord with subtle loans or gifts of goods,To earn his thanks and even coats and

hoods.”(612-616)

– The Reeve has grown rich through sharp dealing and theft

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Reeve

• “He rode the hindmost of our cavalcade.” (626)

– The Reeve rides his horse behind everyone on their journey to Canterbury

• Why?– He can keep a sharp eye on everyone

else to make sure they don’t cheat– No one can watch him, so he can cheat

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Reeve

• Purpose of the Diction– Presents the Reeve as an intimidating

person– Presents the Reeve as an immoral and

unethical person

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Reeve

• Our Reaction to the Reeve– We do not like him– We do not trust him– We might be intimidated by him