Nicholas and Alisoun, Lucresse and Tarquyn and not forgetting Absolon, John the Carpenter and Colyton are the characters at the centre of two of Geoffrey Chaucer's tales that are rich in their Christian and religious bases and innuendo. The Miller's Tale and The Legend of Lucretia though vastly different in tone, The Miller's Tale being a fabliaux and The Legend of Lucretia a tragic account of the rape and suicide of Lucresse, are also very similar in many ways when looking at these tales from a Christian perspective and exploring their Christian background. Yet how far should the study of the Christian bases of these tales, and other Chaucerian and medieval literature, be taken? Is the Bible and Christianity peripheral to the themes of this literature or should it be considered central? I agree with Robert Graybill's assessment; "Since in the medieval view everything existed in the economy of God then everything must either be a manifestation of His glory and benevolence or a mockery of it." A brief reading of these tales will help validate Graybill's claim. The Miller's Tale raises moral questions about adul

Both The Miller's Tale and The Legend of Lucretia are undergirded by strong Christian themes. This is not only because of the distinct Christian nature of the medieval age as espoused by Robert Graybill. Graybill was right in what he wrote, but Chaucer went one step further by deliberately intertwining Christian motifs and issues throughout his writing. The Miller's Tale as fabliaux flew in the face of the Church, not necessarily in the face of real Christianity, but of the hyprocritical, misogynistic practices of the pre-Reformation, medieval Church. The Legend of Lucratia raises the issues that surround, not only rape, but also suicide. Chaucer proclaims Lucresse not guilty lifts her to a position among the saints and gives a proclamation of her true faith even though she was a pagan. Essentially both tales are positioned firmly upon a Christian base and this is entirely the way Chaucer would have wanted them read.

John, the Carpenter, also bears the brunt of Chaucer's satire. He is portrayed as a somewhat simple, trusting and ignorant man. He is placed next to the hypocrisy of the church as seen through Absolon's example. The Carpenter's naive and gullible faith, along with his admiration for Nicholas and his learning, brought him into the situation of being duped, without his knowledge into opening the door for Nicholas to bed his wife Alisoun.

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Approximate Word count = 3151
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)