The Late Fourteenth Century in Chaucer’s the “Miller’s Tale”

The Late Fourteenth Century in Chaucer’s the “Miller’s Tale” Geoffrey Chaucer’s the “Miller’s Tale” presents a realistic, sharply detailed picture of common medieval village life in the late fourteenth century by focusing on personal, familial, social and occupational aspects of the characters John, Nicholas and Absolon. Chaucer created many works in the late fourteenth century but in or around 1378, Chaucer began to develop his vision of an English poetry that would be linguistically accessible to all—obedient neither to the court, whose official language was French, nor to the Church, whose official language was Latin. Instead, Chaucer wrote in the vernacular, the English that was spoken in and around London in his day. Through his choice of language, Chaucer shows how the late fourteenth century medieval society influences his writing. Although the “Miller’s Tale” is only one of about twenty-two completed tales of The Canterbury Tales, the tale of the Miller represents evident examples of striking medieval characterizations. The tale of the Miller is set in Oxford in the medieval era of the late fourteenth century. The characterizations of John, Nicholas and Absolon in the “Miller’s Tale” support a detailed picture of a typical medieval life through the focus of the character’s occupational, familial, personal and social aspects of their lives. John’s occupational, familial, personal and social aspects of his life contribute to the image of an ordinary medieval village life. The descriptions of John’s occupation support the view of Chaucer’s portrayal of the normal and daily activities in the fourteenth century. John is a wealthy carpenter and owns a house in Oxford which he is courteous enough to rent out a room to Nicholas who is a poor student of astronomy. Chaucer states clearly at the beginning of the tale that John is of wealth due to his profession but acts oafishly, “Whilom ther was dwelling at Oxenforde / A riche gnof that gestes heeld to boorde, /

Cited: Blamires, Alcuin. “Philosophical Sleaze? The ‘strok of thought’ in the Miller’s Tale and Chaucerian Fabliau.” The Modern Language Review 102.3 (2007): 621-640. Print. Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Miller’s Tale.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et. al. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton; 2006. 239-256. Print. David, Alfred. “Geoffrey Chaucer.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. Et. al. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton; 2006. 213-216. Print. Miller, Robert P. “The ‘Miller’s Tale’ as a Complaint.” The Chaucer Review 5.2 (1970): 147-160.