What Is The Mood Of The Miller's Tale

(1)

“The Miller’s Prologue”
From The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Lines 12 – 26

The Millere, that for dronken was al pale,
So that unnethe upon his hors he sat,
He nolde avalen neither hood ne hat,
15 Ne abiden no man for his curteisye, But in Pilates vois he gan to crye,
And swoor, “By armes and by blood and bones, I can a noble tale for the nones, With which I wol now quite the Knightes tale.”
20 Oure Hoste sawgh that he was dronke of ale, And saide, “Abide, Robin, leve brother,
Som bettre man shal telle us first another.
Abide, and lat us werken thriftily.” “By Goddes soule,” quod he, “that wol nat I,
25 For I wol speke or elles go my way.” Oure Host answerde, “Tel on, a devele way!

(2)
Translation
For example, both the first and the last line of the first (and most prolonged) paragraph of the passage, display the ironic situation of “The Millere, that for drunken was al pale,” (line 12) who wants to tell a story to “…quite the Knightes tale” (line 19). This paragraph illustrates the Miller through a variety of formal and rhetorical features. In the three lines that follow the first line’s description of his drunkenness contain a variety of calculated language patterns. For example, alliteration of the consonant “h” is used in the phrases, “his horse he sat,” and “neither hood ne hat” (lines 13-14). This alliteration gives focus to the his primary physical description. Also, the phrases, “nolde avalen neither” and “[n]e abiden no,” stand out because the repetition of the first consonants create an A-N-A pattern, that creates an auditory extraction of the phrases from their surrounding words (lines 14-15). Like the alliteration phrases, these stand out as a set to describe the Miller, as well as allude to the Miller’s selfish nature. Line 16 compares the Miller to Pilate, who according to the footnote, is referring to a “harsh voice associated with the character of Pontius Pilate in the mystery plays.” Here, the word Pilate could take on two meanings. The denotation of the word suggests the Miller having a harsh voice and implies the mystery about the
Within this passage, both the Miller and the Host have two quotes. The Miller begins both of his quotes in the name of God saying, “By armes,” (line 17) and “By Goddes soule” (line 24). These references to religion portray the Miller’s contradicting attitudes and the irony of his drunken insistence up telling a noblest tale. The Host’s first dialogue of the passage, speaking to the Miller, repeats the word, “Abide,” which portrays his desire to keep the story-telling running smoothly. The Host acquiesces to the Millers demands in his second quote, “Tel on, a devele way!” (line 26). This quote, referencing the devil, rather than God, shows the recurrent themes of this passage, which are the contrast and ironic disparity between the Host and the