dy at every turn. This does not mean, however, that it is itself an ahistorical form.ö Instead, ChaucerÆs opposition to the social mores of his day firmly plants The Canterbury Tales in a historical context, as he is able to capture the sense of impending change and spirit of rebellion that was blossoming in the medieval world. Thus, the humor that is so apparent in the tales is a powerful tool in ChaucerÆs rendering of society and its ills.
ChaucerÆs concern for the individual clearly diverges from the commonly-held medieval view that the interests of the church, nation, and other social groups should take priority over the problems of the individual. Chaucer chooses to include humorous characters as a way of highlighting both the beauty and ugliness of human nature. He wants his characters to be ordinary, living through common experiences, so that when he satirizes them or reveals their true nature, the reader is able to recognize something of himself in the depiction. Chaucer believes that selfhood is a value that all men should embrace. The comic qualities of his characters only serve to emphasize this point.
One such character is the Miller, who lacks both decorum and a sense of his place in the social structure. In the prologue to the MillerÆs Tale, the Narrator describes him as such:
The Millere, that for drunken was al pale,
So that unnethe upon his hors he sat,
He nolde avalen neither hood ne hat.
Ne abiden no man for his curteisye,
But in Pilates vois he gan to crye,
And swoor, ôBy armes and by blood and bones,
I can a noble tale for the nones,
With which I wol no quite the Knightes tale.ö
The Miller is drunk, and rudely interrupts the HostÆs plans for the storytelling by insisting that he follow the Knight instead of the Monk. Furthermore, the story that the Miller goes on to tell is both crude and almost blasphemo...