The Canterbury Tales

Within Chaucer's framework collection of stories, he experimented with all the major literary genres of the day.  "The Miller's Tale" and "The Merchant's Tale" are both fabliaux.  It seems, however, that both are similar (ironically) to "The Knight's Tale."  In what ways are the tales by the miller and the merchant similar (beyond the obvious love triangle) to each other--and then simlar to the tale of Palamon and Arcite?

The Miller's Tale

What conclusion can you draw about Chaucer's purpose and his audience in  The Miller's Tale  following The Knight's Tale?  The order of the telling of the tales is not random, so what is the effect of that deliberate order?

Sorry for the late post!

The Knight and His Tale

Two questions:
1.  From what we know about the Knight from the General Prologue, why is his tale appropriate to his character?

2.  What do you find the most surprising/interesting about the love "triangle" of Palamon, Arcite, and Emily?

What Kind of Hero is Sir Gawain?

We talked of this somewhat in class, but how do Beowulf and Gawain compare as heroes?  What qualities of each hero are admirable? How could you argue that the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a progression of the idea of the medieval heroic that makes sense as the society (insofar as we have studied it) was developing in the 14th century in Britain?

Great discussion this week.