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The link between education and social class
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The Knight and the Miller Portrayed by Chaucer society. The Knight would be an educated member of society, whereas the Miller would be nearer the bottom of the social spectrum. The type of education each would have had is reflected in the language Chaucer uses in each portrait. In the Knights prologue Chaucer uses longer words and longer sentences. Chaucer lists all the battles the Knights has been in, and the long sentences used help to show the reader that the Knight is educated. In the Millers prologue shorter sentences and shorter words are used which infers that the Miller is uneducated. ‘A swerd and bokeler bar he by his side’ The two characters are defined by their role in society in the 14th century. The Knight and the Miller are complete opposites, not only in social status but also in terms of morals and values. The description of the Knight focuses on his deeds rather than his personality or physical appearance. This reflects the Knights character, that he is not bothered by how he looks to go on the pilgrimage ‘All besmotered with his habergeon, for he was late y-come from his voyage.’ This shows that the Knight is modest and doesn’t mind how he looks when he’s on the pilgrimage. The Miller on the other hand wears bold colours and seems like he has dressed up for going on the pilgrimage. Everything about him is big, both physically ‘Ful big he was of brawn, and eek of bones.’ and personality-wise. The words Chaucer uses to describe each character are very different. The Knights portrait includes words such as ‘worthynes’, ‘trouthe’ and ‘honour.’ These words show admiration for the Knight. The words used to describe the Miller on the other hand are very simple words. Chaucer compares him ... ... middle of paper ... ...of the pilgrims have weapons but each for different reasons. The Knight has come from a battle and has used his weapon for fighting in the Crusades and for his faith, ‘For he was late y-come from his voyage, and wente for to do his pilgrimage.’ The Miller has his sword for show and bravado and it seems he only uses it for mindless violence. The references to the Millers strength show his severe lack of restraint, intelligence and social status. Chaucer has presented the two portraits to introduce the two characters before they tell their tales. They are each very different both in social status and in personality, which is a reason why Chaucer put the tales next to eachother in the ‘Canterbury Tales,’ as it creates a contrast and variation in the story. The two portraits lay the foundations for both the Miller and the Knight to tell the tales they tell.
The Crucible – John Proctor the Tragic Hero What is a tragic hero? The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from the great philosopher, Aristotle. When depicting a tragic hero, Aristotle states "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part." In addition, he explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should possess, which are goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency. All of these necessities help to classify the character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible as the tragic hero of the play.
Chaucer's Prologue is an introduction to the characters that he will soon be talking about in his short stories. It was written to combat the Italian Buchartio, and write his own version to achieve fame. The reason that the Italian version became so popular is because of how it was written in the Italian of the street people, in other words, it could be understood by the whole of Italy, not just the rich. Chaucer wanted to do the same thing, but came to halt when he was deciding what language to write it in, he thought of Russian and other languages, but soon decided on English. This is extremely important because it is the first time that English has ever been written down, usually it is just a spoken language with no written form. This is why it was so important to the English language that he wrote it specifically in English. Giving the language a written form, sort of. It was a mixture of German of the east and native language from the Anglo Saxons. It is difficult to read, because this is the first time English has been written down, so there wasn’t any set way to spell words, and they were spelled how they sounded phonetically.”Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March Hath Perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich liquor” (Page 97 Lines 1-3). Typically, this meant that the same word was spelled fifty different ways throughout the entire Prologue. Though it is hard to read it is still an excellent story, and has very depth in its characters, which are fully developed and give further detail into the story and make it one of the best stories in English there is today.
Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale" should be tragic, because a lot of horrible things happen to the characters. The carpenter's wife is disloyal to him, sleeping with others and making fun of him with Nicholas. Also, he is depicted as a fool. However, readers get a humorous feeling from the story, rather than feeling sorry for the carpenter's unfair life. Chaucer makes the whole story come across as comic rather than tragic. This humor is created by the Miller's narration, the use of irony, the cartoon-like characters, and the twists of plot. These elements combine to produce an emotional distance which enhances the comic effect.
What is Pornography? When asked some people might say, “I can not define it, but I know it when I see it.” The word “Pornography” comes from the Greek for writing about prostitutes. Many people concluded that the Miller’s tale was merely a pornographic story that surrounded four people. This also depended on one’s view of pornography. The Miller’s tale was told by the Miller who was not stable at the time. The Miller’s tale focused on two men, Nicholas and Absolon whose goal is to establish a relationship with Alisoun, the attractive adolescent wife of an older carpenter named John. Alisoun on one hand used old-fashioned romantic strategies such as dressing up in lavish clothes and singing. Nicholas on the other hand tricked John into believing that a Noah’s flood was coming, which forced him to spend the night in a tub on the roof while he gets his way with Alisoun. In the dark, Alisoun played a brutal trick on Absolon, who in return became enranged and burned Nicolas’ bottom. As a consequence, John crashed onto the floor and broke his arm. Many have argued the Miller’s tale is simply a pornographic story, but it is not the case. There were many themes that gave this story its meaning and purpose to the reader. These three themes include sex, love, and religion.
Are there many ways that themes and symbols can be shown in stories? Geoffrey Chaucer uses many different themes, symbols and styles in writing all of tales in The Canterbury Tales. By using these things, Geoffrey utilizes several specific symbols to illustrate various central themes. The characters in the tales make the same mistakes that ordinary people would make, and they receive the same or even worse consequences. One message that is portrayed is greed can make people to evil actions. An example of this is in "The Pardoner's Tale," when the three friends wind up killing each other because of their greed for the money. The second message that is displayed is that one should be careful when meeting strangers and to be cautious of the sincerity of false flattery from those that one does not know. For example, in "The Nun's Priest's Tale," Chanticleer falls for false flattery from Sir Russell Fox, but then he gets even with him when he to uses it to trick Sir Russell Fox. The third and last message that is shown is that reformation in a person can occur because of some type of punishment. This theme occurs in " The Wife of Bath," in that the lady that the knight has to marry is old and ugly, but because of this punishment of having to marry her, he eventually starts to like her. As shown with the three friends in "The Pardoner's Tale", greed stabs friends in the back and deceives them into doing wrong. There are two occasions in which the three friends plot against each other so one may receive more money than the others may. First of all, the three friends find a collection of gold coins under a tree, which they decide should be theirs and they choose to try to take it. They realize ...
The Webster Dictionary defines leadership as “the power or ability to lead other people” (Webster). According to West Point graduate and former Allied Commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower, leadership is a power or ability, it includes the qualities of “vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and profundity of character” that make a great leader. In Shakespeare’s Henry V, the protagonist King Henry, obtained greatness from such qualities which inspired his men to follow him without hesitation, even when faced with deplorable odds. King Henry’s strong sense of duty, commitment to his men and desire to win, enabled his victory over the French. Such desire and will to win would have not been possible for King Henry if it was not for his purpose, role and individuality.
even of it’ suggests that it is the truth that Henry is no more than a
John the Carpenter is a good man, but he makes a mistake by marrying a
When Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, he created a great majority of the individual tales by "borrowing" and reworking material from various sources. Most of these stories would have been very familiar to his medieval audience, and the changes he made in the standard version of these tales for his work would have been a form of tacit communication that would have added an extra dimension to each of them. Howard says that "... the tales possess a relatedness of their own within a world of other texts. They can be understood only with reference to shared formulas of language or generic traits..." (448). In the Miller's tale Chaucer parodies the Knight's Tale, which itself was "adapted from a longer tale ... from Italy ... from Boccaccio" (Howard 448), by combining and satirizing highly irreverent references to the life of Jesus Christ with the story of Oedipus to make the tale as bawdy and comical as possible.
A tragedy should bring fear and pity to the reader. A man in this tragedy should not be exceptionally righteous, but his faults should come about because of a certain irreversible error on his part. This man should find a bad or fatal ending to add to the tragedy of the story, for this man in the tragic hero. The protagonist John Proctor portrays a tragic hero in The Crucible; his hamartia of adultery causes great internal struggles, he displays hubris by challenging authority, and he encounters catastrophe through recognition and reversal.
The Man of the Law in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales came across as wise, but yet winning was his top propriety. Everyone around him thought of him as a wise man, but no one would really speak up if they thought otherwise. The Man of the Law also came off as trying to learn from others case, or maybe he just thought he could do better. He also must have had a great memory as well since “he knew of every judgment, case, and crime, every record since King William's time”.
One of Geoffrey's less believable main characters is the Knight, for reasons of chivalry. The knight displays many traits which make him seem almost too good to be true, and a true gentleman that rarely exists in reality. The narrator sums up the knights character by stating that "Though he were worthy, he was wys,/And of his port as meeke as is a mayde." (pg. 5, The Canterbury Tales) The knight holds four main admirable traits, making him the most liked traveler in "The Canterbury Tales," and also amplying the doubt of his realism. The reader is prepared to learn of each of his noble accomplishments and importance when the narrator remarks that" A knight ther was, and that a worthy man,/That fro the tyme that he first bigan/To ryden out, he loved chivalrye,/Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisye." (pg. 4, The Canterbury Tales) From the characters impressive introduction, it is clear that this man is the most valued and honorable traveler among the group. This perfect gentleman holds a love of ideals that are often not displayed by people. First and foremost, he believes in the ideals of chivalry, and always stays true to its principles. He also feels that one should be honest, truthful and faithful, which many people are not all of these ideals. The knight thinks one should only do what is right, and what will gain him honor and reputation. This character also believes in freedom and generosity towards all, and displays this ideal repeatedly throughout the novel. And lastly, the knight also strongly feels that any proper person should display courtesy and elegance at all times. Another aspect of this character's life which makes him seem too prestigious to be truthful is his impressive military career. He fought in the holy war, known as the Crusades and was involved in 15 "mortal battles." In the prologue, the narrator informs the reader that "Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,/And therto hadde he riden, no man ferre,/As wel in Cristendom as hethenesse,/And ever honoured for his worthinesse.
In his story titled "The Canterbury Tales" Chaucer seems to truly admire some of the pilgrims while displaying disdain and sarcasm towards the others. The pilgrims that he most seems to admire are the Knight, the Oxford Clerk and the Parson. The knight he seems to admire based on his notation of all the campaigns in which the knight has participated in service to just causes. Chaucer makes mention of the knight 's worthiness, wisdom and humility "Though so illustrious, he was very wise And bore himself as meekly as a maid." (67,68 Chaucer). It seems as though Chaucer admires the knights great ability both in warfare and practicing what he preaches. This can be seen in his description of all those he seems to admire in the tale. The Oxford Clerk
Florio, Thomas A., ed. “Miller’s Tales.” The New Yorker. 70 (1994): 35-36. Martin, Robert A., ed., pp.
This is implied when it is said that he had only seen "some service with the