Harnessing The Miller's Power

In Chaucer's The Miller's Tale, the reader is told a graphic and uncensored story describing the process of deceit a person takes to be adulterous. The tale contains trickery, humiliation, pain, and obsessive love. It is clear that it is told by a Miller, due to the grotesqueness of the story line, and due to the fact that Chaucer's prologue to the tales is blunt as well: The description of the characters contains satire in a way that depicts every character as a fraud in their own esteem. I believe that this crude honesty and uncensored information is what could make one attribute Chauser to the Miller, as opposed to the Knight, who describes a world where love does not imply sex, and where chivalry and sportsmanship reign:

Of the Miller's tale,

3806 This Nicholas anon leet fle a fart

This Nicholas immediately let fly a fart

3807 As greet as it had been a thonder-dent,
As great as if it had been a thunder-bolt,
3808 That with the strook he was almoost yblent;
So that with the stroke he was almost blinded;
3809 And he was redy with his iren hoot,
And he was ready with his hot iron,
3810 And Nicholas amydde the ers he smoot.

And he smote Nicholas in the middle of the ass.

Of the Knight's Tale:

2636 Som tyme an ende ther is of every dede.
Some time there is an end of every deed.
2637 For er the sonne unto the reste wente,
For before the sun went unto its rest,
2638 The stronge kyng Emetreus gan hente
The strong king Emetreus did seize
2639 This Palamon, as he faught with Arcite,
This Palamon, as he fought with Arcite,
2640 And made his swerd depe in his flessh to byte,
And made his sword deep in his flesh to bite,
2641 And by the force of twenty is he take
And by the force of twenty he (Palamon) is taken
2642 Unyolden, and ydrawen to the stake.
Without having surrendered, and dragged to the stake.
2643 And in the rescus of this Palamoun
And in the rescue of this Palamon
2644 The stronge kyng Lygurge is born adoun,
The strong king Lygurge is born down,
2645 And kyng Emetreus, for al his strengthe,
And king Emetreus, despite all his strength,
2646 Is born out of his sadel a swerdes lengthe,
Is carried out of his saddle a sword's length,
2647 So hitte him Palamoun er he were take.
So hit him Palamon before he was taken.
2648 But al for noght; he was broght to the stake.
But all for naught; he was brought to the stake.
2649 His hardy herte myghte hym helpe naught:
His hardy heart could not help him:
2650 He moste abyde, whan that he was caught,
He must abide, when he was caught,
2651 By force and eek by composicioun.
By force and also by the agreed terms of battle.

Of the Prologue:

With us there was a DOCTOR OF MEDICINE
412 In al this world ne was ther noon hym lik,
In all this world there was no one like him,
413 To speke of phisik and of surgerye,
To speak of medicine and of surgery,
414 For he was grounded in astronomye.
For he was instructed in astronomy.
415 He kepte his pacient a ful greet deel
He took care of his patient very many times
416 In houres by his magyk natureel.
In (astronomically suitable) hours by (use of) his natural science.
417 Wel koude he fortunen the ascendent
He well knew how to calculate the planetary position
418 Of his ymages for his pacient.
Of his astronomical talismans for his patient.
419 He knew the cause of everich maladye,
He knew the cause of every malady,
420 Were it of hoot, or coold, or moyste, or drye,
Were it of hot, or cold, or moist, or dry elements,
421 And where they engendred, and of what humour.
And where they were engendered, and by what bodily fluid.
422 He was a verray, parfit praktisour:
He was a truly, perfect practitioner:
423 The cause yknowe, and of his harm the roote,
The cause known, and the source of his (patient's) harm,
424 Anon he yaf the sike man his boote.
Straightway he gave the sick man his remedy.
425 Ful redy hadde he his apothecaries
He had his apothecaries all ready
426 To sende hym drogges and his letuaries,
To send him drugs and his electuaries,
427 For ech of hem made oother for to wynne --
For each of them made the other to profit --
428 Hir frendshipe nas nat newe to bigynne.
Their friendship was not recently begun.
429 Wel knew he the olde Esculapius,
He well knew the old Aesculapius,
430 And Deyscorides, and eek Rufus,
And Dioscorides, and also Rufus,
431 Olde Ypocras, Haly, and Galyen,
Old Hippocrates, Haly, and Galen,
432 Serapion, Razis, and Avycen,
Serapion, Rhazes, and Avicenna,
433 Averrois, Damascien, and Constantyn,
Averroes, John the Damascan, and Constantine,
434 Bernard, and Gatesden, and Gilbertyn.
Bernard, and Gaddesden, and Gilbertus.
435 Of his diete mesurable was he,
He was moderate in his diet,
436 For it was of no superfluitee,
For it was of no excess,
437 But of greet norissyng and digestible.
But greatly nourishing and digestible.
438 His studie was but litel on the Bible.
His study was but little on the Bible.
439 In sangwyn and in pers he clad was al,
He was clad all in red and in blue,
440 Lyned with taffata and with sendal.
Lined with taffeta and with silk.
441 And yet he was but esy of dispence;
And yet he was moderate in spending;
442 He kepte that he wan in pestilence.
He kept what he earned in (times of) plague.
443 For gold in phisik is a cordial,
Since in medicine gold is a restorative for the heart,
444 Therefore he lovede gold in special.
Therefore he loved gold in particular.

My New Vocabulary List from "The Knight's Tale"

7.

6.
5.
4.

3.
2.
1.
1. Citole (1959)

2. Bough (1980)

3. Countenance (2010)

4. Fleetingly (2203)

5. Befuddled (2230)

6. Palfreys (2495)

7. Frothing (2506)

There is a pun on line 2208. Point, which can mean 'objective', or refer otherwise to the point of a spear.

'Bros Before Hoes'

While not explicitly mentioned, the saying "Bros before hoes" can be applied to the first part of The Knight's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer. Arcite and Palamon, who are in fact cousins, fight over a damsel one of them sights before the other. They proceed with the childish I-called-her-first game, only to be separated following a set of events which leave each contestant in different circumstances, conflictingly equal.

Palamon seems to be the more chivalrous of the pair, while Acrite has

apparently been blinded by love. They proceed to exchange the common bankjob-film line: "Every man for himself".

Later on, Palamon's monologue from lines 1265-1264 question the nature of happiness and its role in life.

The Knight, our narrator, concludes by asking a disputable question:

Due to the fact that Theseus has two women in his life (Ypolita and Emelye), a solution to the cousins' dilemma is foreshadowed: Each will end up with a woman. That is my prediction. However, it may just be that my hypothesis is completely mistaken.

Dreams, and other excuses to have fun

Upon reading Breton's First Surrealist Manifesto, the importance I have attributed to dreams is only corroborated. The happiness obtained from their freedom is conceded at a steep price: The violent awakening only deprives us of the youthful joy within the dreams. In "Migrations", by Dorian Merina the dreams of a far off place (5:08) are pricey at best, and often, as we may see countless times, too pricey for some.

One conclusion we may approach is that which attributes bliss to change, in which case, the cultural varieties seen today occur due to peoples' belief in finding their dreams elsewhere. Elsewhere will never be reached, of course, as is the case with Alice in Through the Looking Glass. Lewis Caroll writes about a similar situation in which “The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today.” (Caroll)

If people enjoy exotic variety (2:26-2:48), there is no question as to why they wouldn't enjoy them in combos: We find interest in those who have mixed decent (2:59-3:35). We can no longer be curious, then, as to why people are attracted to fast food places which allow customers to be creative with their meals. Buyers acquire interesting combos, and can have fun creating them. It is the same joy we may find in dreams, whether waking or not.