Oswald.
“The Reeve’s Tale” is the third story told in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The reeve, named Oswald in the text, is the manager of a large estate who reaped incredible profits for his master and himself.
What does the Reeve represent in The Canterbury Tales?
In the time of The Canterbury Tales, the definition of “reeve” was someone who manages land—and the Reeve excels at this role. The Prologue states that no auditor could find fault in his records.
What does the Reeve represent?
A reeve is a manager of someone’s estate or farm. This reeve is also a carpenter, which leads to trouble when the Miller tells a tale insulting carpenters, but most of the Reeve’s portrait focuses upon his role as a manager, which he’s been doing for many, many years.
How is the Reeve described in the prologue?
The Reeve, who in The Prologue is described as “old and choleric and thin,” tells a tale that reeks of bitterness and is less funny than The Miller’s Tale, partly because the Miller is a boisterous and jolly person. Trumpyngtoun (Trumpington) a town near Cambridge, England.
What is the name of the Miller in the Reeves tale?
Symkyn
A miller named Symkyn lives on some property by a bridge not far from the town of Cambridge. (A miller is a person who grinds corn and grain into flour.) He likes to fight, carries multiple weapons, and enjoys wrestling.
How is the Reeve described?
He is described in the Tales as skinny and bad-tempered and old; his hair is closely cropped reflecting his social status as a serf. His sword is rusty while he rides a fine gray horse called Scot. The Reeve is a skilled carpenter, a profession mocked in the previous “Miller’s Tale”.
What is satire of the Reeve?
In The Canterbury Tales, the Reeve tells a satirical story about a miller. In the Reeve’s story, the miller is a deceitful lazy, untrustworthy, base, corrupt, loathsome person. The Reeve most likely told that story because the Miller had told a story about a carpenter and the Reeve was offended by the Miller’s story.
Why does the Reeve hate the Miller?
“The Reeve’s Tale” is an attempt by the Reeve to “quite,” or answer, “The Miller’s Tale.” The Reeve is angry because the Miller has just told a story in which a carpenter is humiliated by his wife and her lover.
Who tells the Reeve’s tale?
The old Reeve (bailiff), a woodworker, tells this bawdy tale in response to “The Miller’s Tale” of a cuckolded carpenter. The story tells how two student clerks, speaking broad Northern dialect, avenge themselves on a dishonest miller.
What is the moral of the Reeve’s tale?
‘The Reeve’s Tale’ is a story about revenge or what is called quitting, meaning to repay someone. The moral of this story is that you can’t hope for good if you do evil.
What was the Reeve’s last occupation?
He is a carpenter in his spare time. The Reeve, though sickly in features, is very vengeful and angry when the Miller disparages carpenters in his story.
How does the Reeve keep his hair and beard trimmed?
How does the Reeve keep his hair and beard trimmed? He trimmed his beard down to his skin and he kept his hair above his ears. What is the Reeve’s bodily build like, judging by the narrator’s description of the Reeve’s legs? Like a priest, legs were lean, no calf was to be seen.
How is the Reeve’s tale an immoral one?
In “The Reeve’s Tale,” a dishonest miller cheats all his customers by shorting them on corn, “padding” their sacks with a less expensive substance like bran.
What is Miller’s real name in The Canterbury Tales?
The Miller’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. This bawdy story of lust and revenge is told by a drunken, churlish Miller.
Why does the Reeve tell a story about a miller?
The Reeve tells his story to retaliate against another pilgrim, a miller, whose tale about an unhappily married carpenter has angered the reeve. Chaucer’s prologue gives a description of the miller, which has some similarities with the miller figure the Reeve describes.
Who is Miller in Canterbury Tales?
Description of the Miller
The Miller, one of the pilgrims on the trip to Canterbury, is a large, brawny man known for his prowess as a wrestler. Chaucer says that because of the Miller’s strength and temperament, he always wins when he participates in wrestling matches on festival days.
Is the Reeve middle class?
The Reeve would be considered a part of the middle class because his job holds a higher, more honorable status than a simple peasant. As the leader of a village, the Reeve was respected by many peasants.
Why did the Reeve go on the pilgrimage?
In the General Prologue, Chaucer tells us that the reeve on this pilgrimage earns incredible profits for his lord, mainly by being extremely vigilant to make sure that none of the businessmen with whom he works are cheating him.
Why did the Reeve go on the pilgrimage in The Canterbury Tales?
The Reeve is supposed to be a religious man hence the pilgrimage. He makes his money telling his tales and I think this pilgrimage fits in. Like most of the pilgrims, the Reeve takes this journey as a holiday.
Why is Shrek satire?
Shrek is a satirical film because it blends and mocks several fairy tales. The movie adds a twist to the tales and questions the realism of the vignettes.
What type of satire is The Canterbury Tales?
The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales is an estates satire. In the Host’s portraits of the pilgrims, he sets out the functions of each estate and satirizes how members of the estates – particularly those of the Church – fail to meet their duties.