‘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.
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 does the Reeve do in The Canterbury Tales?
A reeve oversees all aspects of the agrarian activity of a manorial estate; Oswold, for example is responsible for keeping accounts, managing the planting and harvesting of grain, and keeping track of all the landlord’s livestock.
What is the purpose of the cook’s tale in The Canterbury Tales?
Chaucer’s Cook in his prologue and tale shows how jokes or pranks can hurt. The innkeeper, Harry Bailly, goads his professional rival, Hogge (Roger) the Cook of Ware, with criticism of the food he prepares.
serf
The reeve, named Oswald in the text, is the manager of a large estate who reaped incredible profits for his master and himself. 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.
What kind of story is the Reeve’s tale?
fabliau
Like “The Miller’s Tale,” “The Reeve’s Tale” is a fabliau, a medieval genre of bawdy story, usually concerning adultery. Chaucer may have based this tale on a similar story from Boccaccio’s Decameron in which two clerks have sex with the wife and daughter of the innkeeper with whom they’re staying.
What is the plot of the Reeve’s tale?
In outline it is similar to one of the stories in Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. 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 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 does the Reeve’s tale end?
The Reeve ends his tale by summarizing the punishments its miller has endured, then explaining these punishments with the proverb “Hym that nar wene wel that yvele doth” (“he who does evil fares badly”) (466).
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.
What is the main lesson in the Canterbury Tales?
Lessons on Honor & Honesty
One of the main lessons throughout all of the tales and main story is that honor and honesty is valued. In stories like the Physician’s Tale, we see that the lying Appius who lusts after a young girl, is eventually caught for his lies and thrown in jail where he kills himself.
What are 3 reasons the Canterbury Tales are important?
The Canterbury Tales is considered Chaucer’s masterpiece and is among the most important works of medieval literature for many reasons besides its poetic power and entertainment value, notably its depiction of the different social classes of the 14th century CE as well as clothing worn, pastimes enjoyed, and language/
What is ironic about the Cook in the Canterbury Tales?
Blancmange was famous for curing illnesses, so people often gave it to people who were sick. Thus, there may be additional irony here in that the Cook is known for a dish that was reputed to cure all illnesses, but it clearly could not cure his own illness.
How does the Reeve describe himself?
The Reeve elaborates upon how old he is, using various metaphors to describe old age. He describes himself as a horse that is confined to the stable, and a rotten fruit.
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 setting of the Reeve’s tale?
A Mill in Trumpington, not far from Cambridge, England
The setting at a mill puts the focus of the tale on the everyday economic transactions of a medieval village, which also become a source of conflict: the miller cheats his customers, leading the clerks to attempt payback.
What is a Reeve and why is the Miller making fun of him?
However, in the General Prologue, we also learned that the Reeve was once a carpenter. When the Miller tells a story making fun of a rather dense carpenter named John, the Reeve takes this as an insult upon all carpenters, and begs to be allowed to “quite,” or answer, “The Miller’s Tale” with his own.
How is the Miller able to cheat the college in the Reeve’s tale?
How is the Miller able to cheat the college in “The Reeve’s Tale?” The Miller cheats the college by stealing their corn and grain. He does this even when the manciple, the person responsible for buying provisions, is quite sick.
When was the Reeve’s tale written?
Ranging in tone from vulgar humour to serious moralising, the stories are unified by common themes, notably a contrast of the ‘loose woman’ and the virtuously long-suffering one. Chaucer began writing the tales late in his career (1387), but died in 1400, leaving them unfinished.
What kind of person is the Manciple?
A manciple is someone who’s in charge of purchasing food and supplies for an institution like a school, monastery or law court. This particular manciple works for an inn of court (the “temple”), which is a place where lawyers might live or gather.
What is manciple personality?
In general, the Manciple appears to be concerned about what others think of him, and is a cautious man. He doesn’t get drunk and says he will make sure Roger doesn’t blab about his petty deceptions, whatever they are. He doesn’t gossip and avoids making himself the bearer of bad news.