EN 2250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: The Unfaithful Wife, Lyric Poetry, Fabliau
Document Summary
Poetry is broken down into many genres; the oldest genre we have. Lyrical poetry; intended to be accompanied by an instrument, usually rhyming or embellished. Tends to be short, tends to have one speaker, one audience, one emotional register. The miller is a course, low man with a filthy sense of humor. The tale falls along the lines of what you would expect of his character. Picking on the reve in particular because he doesn"t like him; makes him the butt of the joke. The unfaithful wife, the rich man who is a fool, his servant who knows better. In this tale, you have the old man who has a young wife and jealous of her. Those who fight, those who pray, those who work. Could argue that those who pray are more important than those who fight. Didn"t want to offend the ruling class. Chaucer is a civil servant; the nobility gave him his position.
