“THE MILLER’S TALE” – A LAUGHTER-PROVOKING FICTION IN GEOFFREY CHAUCER’S “THE CANTERBURY TALES”: AN INSIGHT INTO WHAT PROVIDES COMIC RELIEF
“THE MILLER’S TALE” – A LAUGHTER-PROVOKING FICTION IN GEOFFREY CHAUCER’S “THE CANTERBURY TALES”: AN INSIGHT INTO WHAT PROVIDES COMIC RELIEF

Summary/Abstract: A controversial work back in the 14th century, due to its fragmentation, but still reaching harmony in form and purpose, The Canterbury Tales is approached in the present article as the epitome of comic writing for its time. Apparently, there were/are various strands of the comic tradition available in Chaucer’s time. Therefore, how the author put them to good use is note-worthy for several reasons. While, nowadays we consider a comedy as a dramatic genre and the comic as something that can trigger laughter, medieval definitions feature neither drama nor laughter. The present comparative approach deals with identifying the potential triggers of laughter during 14th century England as compared to the perspective taken by 21st century English language students from the University of Pitesti who took part in a survey on the above-mentioned topic.

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