Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale retold over the centuries

What is it about?

Chaucer's Miller's Tale is a part of his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales. It is a comic story of a well-off carpenter, his young wife and two young men who wanted to sleep with her. Until recently, this story was criticized as vulgar and obscene and as such, was considered unfit for the general reader. For that reason, publications of The Canterbury Tales in modernized English either did not include this tale or included it in a heavily censored version. The article briefly reviews the history of the modernization of The Miller’s Tale in the 18th–19th centuries and focuses on its four major 20th-early 21st-century translations into modern English. The author is trying to find out how the motives of decency might have determined the translators’ choices where it concerns the tale’s explicit language.

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Photo by Michael D Beckwith on Unsplash

Photo by Michael D Beckwith on Unsplash

Why is it important?

In historical perspective, the article looks at the important issue of how individual understanding of moral propriety within one epoch can affect the fate of literary works written in earlier centuries, with a different mindset as regards morality.

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