Humour in The Miller's Tale and The Reeve's Tale Essay

"The Miller's Tale" and "The Reeve's Tale" encompass the use of humor as a method of advancing the stories' plot, which, incidentally, share striking similarities. In both of the tales, vulgarity and over the top sexual obscenity comprises the humor that makes the audience react. In my opinion, the author did a good job at producing laughs, but if the stories are analyzed in depth, then the reader will realize that they are, indeed, quite perverse and spiteful. With that being said, I found the tales to be a temporary form of amusement only when enjoyed for what they merely are, a source of laughter and nothing more.

In "The Miller's Tale", a clever student named Nicholas decides to trick the carpenter John by sleeping with his young and attractive wife Alison. Nicholas concocts an idiotic plan perfect for the dimwitted carpenter; he tells him a furious flood much deadlier than Noah's Flood will occur next Monday, and the only way to survive it is by sleeping overnight in tubs placed on the roof. John immediately believes him, but keeps quiet about it at Nicholas' request. When Monday night comes, John is fast asleep in the tub, which allows Nicholas and Alison to sneak down to John's room and have passionate sex. The carpenter is oblivious of what the two are up to, and this instance of humor shows the ignorance of the carpenter. After they are done copulating, the annoying parish clerk Absalom arrives outside the house, and begs Alison for a kiss. She agrees and thrusts her buttocks out the window; unbeknownst to Absalom, he kisses her hairy anus instead of her soft, red lips. When he realizes what just happened, he jumps back and Alison giggles. She shuts the window and he plans his revenge. Absalom comes back with a hot colter and intends to use it on Alison; however, Nicholas intervenes and sticks out his ass and lets out a tremendous fart "with a noise as great as a clap of thunder." Absalom brands his buttocks with the hot colter, and Nicholas cries for water. At this exact moment, John awakens thinking the flood has happened; he cuts the tub free and falls to the ground, breaking his arm. The townspeople hear the commotion and John warns them of the flood. Alison and Nicholas tell the people that he is crazy, and they laugh at his misfortune. The tale ends there, and the audience is informed that the characters deserved what happened to them. The reader can conclude that John may have physically abused his wife, since it is stated that he was very possessive and jealous; he also didn't allow her to leave the house at all. Despite John being made a cuckold, the audience feels no sympathy because of the way he acted towards his wife; he was a fool to think he could be with someone as vivacious as Alison. Furthermore, Absalom is also taught a lesson, which is to never love anyone who doesn't love you back.

"The Reeve's Tale" basically follows the same outline as the previous story: the husband is overprotective of his wife, the wife engages in adultery with another man, the husband is punished by that man, and the wife gets off scot-free. In my opinion, it is a toned down version of "The Miller's Tale", since it has less comical moments; in fact, the only ounce of humor occurs towards the end. After Alan finishes having sex with Malyne,

he climbs in Simon's bed and mistakes him for his friend John; he tells him that he slept with Malyne and upon hearing this, Simon attacks him. They fight until the wife wakes up and prays to God for it to stop. She grabs a stick by the corner and mistakenly hits her husband; Simon begs for help and instead, the students begin to beat him. Alan and John leave immediately, taking the meal that was theirs to begin with. It is stated that the miller Simon deserved the beating, since he was dishonest and a cheater. However, in the end, he was cheated on by his wife and left feeling helpless.

All in all, both these stories are successful because not only do they pull the reader in, but they also combine comedy with morals. But between "The Miller's Tale" and "The Reeve's Tale", "The Miller's Tale" is far more enjoyable for a modern audience. Even though the tale would never occur in reality, it does contain a better sense of humor than "The Reeve's Tale", which can be mean-spirited at times. Its exaggeration, especially with the arse burning, is what makes "The Miller's Tale" more entertaining. This leads me to conclude that today's high school students are better able to appreciate these stories than students in earlier decades mainly due to one reason: teenagers nowadays often employ sexual references into the jokes they tell, and these tales are something that might just catch their attention.