The Miller's Tale- Chaucer's Response to Society's Flaws

In the Canterbury Tales, we are shown an avid description of the medieval world as Chaucer viewed it. Chaucer introduces us to various conflicts of the time, including the rivalry between men and women, the corruption of the Catholic Church, and class struggles. One of my favorite tales in the novel was the Miller's Tale. This tale depicted the struggle occurring in love and marriage, and also youth and old age. In this story we …

…more common-folk terms- describing her to fruits and animals. The Miller also took a poke at the knight, as he portrayed Absalon as a failure of chivalry (as described above). This is the first in a long list of rival tales, such as: the Friar and Summoner, the Miller and the Reeve, etc. These rivalries aren't simply about revenge, but they also fire up long lasting class conflicts- like our Miller's and the Knight's tale.