While the tale is succesful in illustrating it point, it does not stand up to the test of sentence and solas the way "The Oxford Scholar's Tale" does. The Miller's Tale" is a wonderful tale that exposes courtly love through mockery. This tale is unconventional in that it is not one of happy matrimony. True love and respect are disparaged in practically every way. From this tale, we might assume that bad behavior goes unpunished and, in some cases, unnoticed because Alison and Absalon never receive punishment for their behavior. In addition, the two humiliate John and he is never allowed an opportunity to redeem himself. The Tale is not devoid of humor with its two tales of love. Nicholas' relationship with John and the joke of the flood is definitely entertaining as well as Absalon's persistence in getting Alison's attention. He goes beyond human limits to win her hart but it to no avail. However, it is to our entertainment. This tale is funny but it lacks depth of moral meaning because the bad behavior is never addressed and the innocent characters in the tale are ridiculed. In short, this tale has no real moral value. In fact, we could look at this tale as one that teaches there is no punishment for bad behavior and good deeds are rarely noticed while bad deeds are more fun.

The Pardoner's Tale" because the Pardoner's tale is too much like the truth for us to be comfortable with it. In other words, this tale hits too close to home when we think of deceptive preachers and fraudulant patrons that seek money for their blessings. While he preaches against greed, he is nothing but greedy himself. He also speaks out against the sin of gluttony but he is drunk for his entire tale. In addition, he uses the people's sins against them. For example, at the end of his tale, he declares that the pilgrims can buy absolution. However, the must make the "right approaches" (274). He continues to tell the pilgrims that they can continue to recevie his pradon at each stop they make along the way with the money that is due. Like the characters in "The Miller's Tale," the pardoner is never really...

While "The Pardoner's Tale" is amusing and very entertaining, it lacks what it takes to be a complete moral tale.
We do not have to look far to find a multitude of characters and lessons in Chaucer's the Canterbury Tales. These tales are anything but boring and the best of them teach us something about human nature. The very best of them teach us something about human nature and entertain us at the same time. We can envision the medieval world through a more realistic lens with Chaucer's tales and it is from this perspective that we can see how little mankind has changed over the years. It seems no matter how far we go or how far we think we have come, we still have lessons to learn about each other. These lessons are best taught in an educational but entertaining way. We receive stories better if there is an element of humor along with an element of the truth. Taking this into consideration, we can see how Chaucer's "The Oxford Scholar's Tale" is superior to many of the tales in the collection because it teaches as well as entertains. In addition, the tale is the best example of sentence and solas of all of the other tales. Walter and Griselda are two people from which we can learn much about human nature. When we compare "The Wife of Bath's Tale," "The Miller's Tale," and "The Pardoner's Tale" to "The Oxford Scholar's Tale," "The Oxford Scholar's Tale," is heads and shoulders above the others because it is all about learning and entertainment at the same time.

Works Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Miller's Tale." The Canterbury Tales. Nevill Coghill, trans. New York: Penguin Books, Hamilton: 1977.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Oxford Scholar's Tale." The Canterbury Tales. Nevill Coghill, trans. New York: Penguin Books, Hamilton: 1977.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Pardoner's Tale." The Canterbury Tales. Nevill Coghill, trans. New York: Penguin Books, Hamilton: 1977.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Wife of Bath's Tale." The Canterbury Tales. Nevill Coghill, trans. New York: Penguin Books, Hamilton: 1977.