A Comaprison of the Millers Tale and Merchants Tale Essay -- compari

Comparing Millers narrative and Merchants write up Alison in the Millers Tale and whitethorn of the Merchants Tale be similar in several ways. Both are young women who have married men much older than themselves. They twain become involved with young, manipulative men. They also conspire to and do shaft their husbands. This is not what marriage is about and it is demonstrated in both tales. What makes the Millers Tale bawdy comedy and the Merchants tale bitter satire is in the characterization. In the Millers tale we are giving stereotyped characters. The principals are cardboard cut-outs direct into farcical motion. The Merchants Tale gives us much more background and power point of the characters lives. The reader is more involved and can have their situations. Here we leave behind focus on the two women of each tale and how they demonstrate this difference. Alison is expound as young and wild. She is like an animal " Thereto she koude skippe and make spicy/ A s any kyde or calf folwynge his dame" (I. 3259-60). We know that she would be willing to go a gigantic with any idea as long as it is "fun". We can see her childish immaturity in the scenes where she lets Absalom "kiss" her. We do not learn the expound of her marriage such as her feeling toward John, her husband. We simply know that it is a mis-matched marriage with a large age gap between them. May is not exposit in much detail compared to Alison. She is simply young, meek and beautiful. The mischievous details of her marriage though are clearly shown. January makes speeches about his desire to terminated his marriage and loathingly promises to take his time. We are with May when the real horror she feels at having to sleep with January is describe... ...In response she acts impertinent and insulted "This thank have I for I have maad yow see/ Allas, quod she, that evere I was so kinde" (IV. 2388-89). How ridiculous and awful that January believes her explanation. wherefore we can see while both stories have similar elements, the Millers Tale is straight comedy. The reader is not shown the emotions of the characters. Alison is not a fully veritable character. She is and stays what she was described as in the beginning of the tale an 18 year old wild girl. The tale is more a represent on courtly love. In contrast, in the Merchants Tale the reader is shown the disgusting details of Januarys motives and subsequent marriage. Mays character is more fleshed out, the assaults against her explicitly shown. We may feel sorry for the carpenter but January never gets our sympathy.