the different in tales

I believe there were some tales that help reveal how women were treated in the Chaucer’s days and how it helps explain the Canterbury tale better. The two tales I pick is about the miller tale and the wife of berth tale, I pick these two tales, because it helps reveal the way women were treated and was viewed by society.

The wife or berth tale was about a lust knight who was horny and as he was walking through the town, at a river he saw a beautiful woman who he raped and thought he got away with it. Until, the queen ask him to go around to ask every female what everyone woman want and as he went through the town and stop at a forest and saw an illusion with girls playing, then the girls turned out to be really an old woman who knew the answer for the queen answer and when he ask her, she said he must be her when he tells the queen the answer, the answer was women wants to be in control of everything and when he tells the queen , the old woman appears and tell the queen she was the one who told him and he had to marry the old lady, he don’t want to sleep with her in bed, but she uses her illusion and make him sleep with her.

The miller tale was about an Oxford student named Nicholas, who studied astrology and knew the art of love. Nicholas boarded with a wealthy but ignorant old carpenter named John, who was jealous and highly possessive of his sexy eighteen-year-old wife, Alisoun. One day, the carpenter leaves, and Nicholas and Alisoun begin flirting. Nicholas grabs Alisoun, and she threatens to cry for help. He then begins to cry, and after a few sweet words, she agrees to sleep with him when it is safe to do so. She is worried that John will find out, but Nicholas is confident he can outwit the carpenter. Nicholas is not the only one that likes Alisoun. A clerk named Absolon also fancies Alisoun. He serenades her every night, buys her gifts, and gives her money, but to no avail—Alisoun loves Nicholas. Nicholas devises a plan that will allow him and Alisoun to spend an entire night together.

The next Monday, waters twice as great as Noah's flood will cover the land, exterminating all life. john believes him and fears for his wife,. Nicholas instructs John to fasten three tubs, each loaded with provisions and an ax, to the roof of the barn. On Monday night, they will sleep in the tubs, so that when the flood comes, they can release the tubs, hack through the roof, and float until the water subsides. Monday night arrives, and Nicholas, John, and Alisoun ascend by ladder into the hanging tubs. As soon as john begins to snore, Nicholas and Alisoun climb down, run back to the house, and sleep together in the carpenter's bed. Absolon passes by. He hopes for a kiss, or perhaps more, from Alisoun, Absalon sidles up to the window and calls to her. She harshly replies that she loves another. Absolon persists, and Alisoun offers him one quick kiss in the dark. Absolon leaps forward eagerly, offering a lingering kiss. But it is not her lips he finds at the window, but her “naked buttocks”. She and Nicholas laugh aloud; Absolon hurries back into town to the blacksmith and obtains a red-hot iron poker. He returns with it to the window and knocks again, asking for a kiss and promising Alisoun a golden ring. This time, Nicholas, having gotten up to relieve himself anyway, sticks his rear out the window and farts thunderously in Absolon's face. Absolon brands his buttocks with the poker. Nicholas leaps up and cries out “help”. John, still hanging from the roof, wakes up and assumes Nicholas's cries mean that the flood has come. He grabs the ax, cuts free the tub, and come crashing to the ground, breaking his arm.


These two tale show how women were viewed and treated during the Chaucer’s times