An analysis of Chaucer's Miller's Tale

Scholars, critics and readers of The Miller's Tale should not try and find a moral, a revelation or historical context with his words - there is none. McDaniel does exactly the opposite: "the Miller has preached a sermon on the sin of pride, couching his homily in the vulgar garb of a naughty story." McDaniel goes even further than this stating that the three men are "victims of vanity." There is only one reason for …

…nyce cas" (3855). He has cleared the air with his bawdy tale and silenced any expectation of further stories as boring as the Knight's. This is possibly one of the reasons that the Miller threatens to leave the company - he would not bear it if the rest of the tales followed suit. This is what would happen if the Miller had kept quiet, but he saves the company and the reader from death by boredom.