The Miller's Prologue and Tale

I found the Miller's Prologue and Tale to be quite funny.  It was probably the most humorous story we have read this semester. For me, it was a nice change from some of the more serious stories we have read throughout the semester. One of the things I took from the story was the amazing effect that young women have on all types of men. Alison, who was only eighteen years old was married to John who was much older than she was. John was very protective of his younger wife most likely due to her age and the fact that she might run off with someone younger than him.  Nicolas, the student who had been living with the couple was falling in love with Alison and confronted her professing his love he had for her.  Alison initially did not give into his demands for she was trying to be loyal to John, but eventually after enough begging from Nicolas she gave in and slept with Nicolas. Both Nicolas and Alison fell in love with one another, keeping it secret from John.  All the while Absolon, another clerk in the parish had a mad desire for Alison and would come try to visit her at night outside her window singing to her.

All three men in the story have a huge desire for Alison, but the only person Alison was interested in was Nicolas. It is as if all the men were in a daze because of Alison's beauty and the obsession they all shared for her.  John may have been better off in the beginning if he had not married someone so much younger than him and went for someone more of his own age. The same thing goes for Alison as she choose to marry a much older man. This story is filled with much trickery and humor, especially when Absolon is asking Alison for a kiss and she sticks her butt out the window and he kisses that instead.  The men in the Miller's Prologue and Tale all make attempts to try and trick the other man and some of those tricks work.  The trick Nicolas played on John with the flood that was supposedly coming worked out for Nicolas and Alison so they could sleep together.  That was successful for Nicolas, but when he tried putting his butt out the window to trick Absolon into kissing it his plan backfired and he got burned in the end.

The Broom Tree

Revised

The Broom Tree deals largely with the expectations that men place on women as their wives.  Genji sets out looking for the "perfect woman" having his expectations set as far as how their potential wives should behave and the numerous qualities a women should possess. Some of those qualities are a good personality, jealousy, being able to run the household and doing what their husbands ask of them. I think that in this story the men have over expectations of how women should be.  No where in the story does it mention how men should be for their wives which means one thing, that women were not looked up to in society.  The men seem to over analyze what womens behavior should be like.  They want their wives to be jealous, but not to jealous and possessing that type of qualitiy could either be a good thing or a bad thing to them. During this time it seemed as if women were merely just an accessory to men and had no real value other than to make the men happy. I interpret this because the men never discuss doing anything nice for their wives.  It is all just about what is good for the men.  There does not seem to be any equality mentioned of men and women in  this story. Throughout history it has always been about the men having all the power. To some extent this outlook on women has changed today in some areas of the world, but I'm sure that in some places there are men who act much like the characters of The Broom Tree.  I think that many of those types of men live in America today. Today men look for women who can cook, are supportive of them, loyal, respectful, and someone they can get along with. Women are looking for many of the same qualities but women tend to look more for stability in a relationship and honesty and loyalty.  In today's age almost half of all marriages end in divorce. There are so many various reasons why these marriages may end but I believe the top two reasons are infidelity and money. We are seeing an age where divorce rates are at there highest and more and more people tend to be unhappy in their marriage. Everything always varies from different peoples views, but it seems to me that my generation has been so de-sensitized that men do not respect women the way they should and are treated unfairly. Today women have a higher place in society than they did one hundred years ago or even one thousand years ago, but men will always be struggling to be the ones in total control of everything.

Original

The Broom Tree deals largely with the expectations that men place on women as their wives.  Genji sets out looking for the "perfect woman" having his expectations set as far as how their potential wives should behave and the numerous qualities a women should possess. Some of those qualities are a good personality, jealousy, being able to run the household and doing what their husbands ask of them. I think that in this story the men have over expectations of how women should be.  No where in the story does it mention how men should be for their wives which means one thing, that women were not looked up to in society.  The men seem to over analyze what womens behavior should be like.  They want their wives to be jealous, but not to jealous and possessing that type of qualitiy could either be a good thing or a bad thing to them. During this time it seemed as if women were merely just an accessory to men and had no real value other than to make the men happy. I interpret this because the men never discuss doing anything nice for their wives.  It is all just about what is good for the men.  There does not seem to be any equality mentioned of men and women in  this story. Throughout history it has always been about the men having all the power. I am glad to see that this outlook on women has changed today for the most part, but I'm sure that in some places there are men who act much like the characters of The Broom Tree.

T`ao Chien

Begging for Food is about a character who was overcome by hunger and went away from home on a journey to try to find food so he could survive. As readers we do not know very much about the man or his background since it is a short poem but it does teach individuals about compassion and caring for others.  The owner of the home could have simply given the man some food and let him be on his way, but the owner invited the man in for much more. “The owner guessed what I was after And gave it, but not just the gift alone”. The other important gift that was given in the story was the gift of friendship. “Happy in our new acquaintance We san old songs and wrote new poems”.  These men had not previously known one another, but instantly bonded becoming friends. They drank wine together and sang songs together enjoying each others company. But the visitor could not repay the owner for all that he had done for him.  “I have no way to show my thanks And must repay you from the grave”. This leads us to believe that the man is either homeless or lives in poverty to where he has no belongings of his own. 

This story was very uplifting to me because it displays kindness between two people who are strangers, and it teaches people that they are meant to care for each other and be compassionate when others are in a time of need. The owner wanted to help this man while expecting nothing back in return other than the visitors company.  Today that is a rare thing to happen.