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

Comparing Millers state workforcet and Merchants Tale Alison in the Millers Tale and whitethorn of the Merchants Tale are similar in several ways. Both are young women who have married men such(prenominal) older than themselves. They both(prenominal) become involved with young, manipulative men. They likewise conspire to and do cuckold their husbands. This is not what marriage is about and it is demonstrate in both descriptions. What makes the Millers Tale bawdy comedy and the Merchants tale barbed satire is in the characterization. In the Millers tale we are giving sort characters. The principals are cardboard cut-outs sent into farcical motion. The Merchants Tale gives us much to a greater extent background and detail of the characters lives. The reader is more involved and washstand feel their situations. Here we will focus on the two women of severally tale and how they demonstrate this difference. Alison is described as young and wild. She is like an physical & quot Thereto she koude skippe and make game/ As every kyde or calf folwynge his dame" (I. 3259-60). We make love that she would be willing to go along with any idea as long as it is "fun". We can turn over her childish immaturity in the scenes where she lets Absalom "kiss" her. We do not describe the details of her marriage such as her feeling toward John, her husband. We apparently know that it is a mis-matched marriage with a large age gap mingled with them. May is not described in much detail compared to Alison. She is simply young, meek and beautiful. The disgusting details of her marriage though are intelligibly shown. January makes speeches about his desire to consummate 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 convey 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. Therefore 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 developed character. She is and stays what she was described as in the beginning of the tale an eighteen year old wild girl. The tale is more a parody 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 neer gets our sympathy.