Chaucer's Miller's Tale

Were the Middle Ages funny? In this bonus series for 2024, Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley begin their quest for the medieval sense of humour with Chaucer’s 'Miller’s Tale', a story that is surely still (almost) as funny as when it was written six hundred years ago. But who is the real butt of the joke? Mary and Irina look in detail at the mechanics of the plot and its needless but pleasurable complexity, and consider the social significance of clothes and pubic hair in the tale.You can also watch a video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/_o1GdU5-O8U?si=ca_I-wnwR1HVGMqVSign up to listen to this series ad free and all our subscriber series in full, including Mary and Irina's twelve-part series Medieval Beginnings:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/medlolapplesignupIn other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/medlolscsignupGet in touch: [email protected] more on Chaucer in the LRB:Barbara Newman: Chaucer's Voiceshttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v41/n22/barbara-newman/kek-kek!-kokkow!-quek-quek!Gabriel Josipovici: Imperfect Knighthttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v02/n07/gabriel-josipovici/imperfect-knightTom Shippey: Chaucer's Lifehttps://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v15/n01/tom-shippey/nayled-to-the-wow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.