311). In contrast to bolstering the position of any specific class of society, in the Canterbury Tales Chaucer's method of story telling refuses to take sides: a tale by a knight is deflated by that of a miller, and the miller's wit is undercut by his drunkenness. While many critics have commented upon the ironic contrast between the Chaucerian teller of the tales and their content, such as the greedy Pardoner who condemns money as the root of all evil, this irony is also evident within the pilgrim's tales, even the funny miller's tale (Spearing 2001). Those who know best are shown to know least, and the man who tries to control his wife is shown to be the most out-of-control.

"Philosophical sleaze? The 'strok of thought' in the 'Miller's Tale' and Chaucerian fabliau." The Modern Language Review. 102. 3 (July 2007), 621-640.
Heffernan, Carol Falvo. "Chaucer's 'Miller's Tale' and 'Reeve's Tale,' Boccaccio's Decameron,

and the French fabliaux." Italica. 81.3 (Autumn, 2004), 311-324

Morgan, Gerald. "Philosophical Chaucer: Love, Sex, and Agency in the Canterbury Tales. The Modern Language Review. 102. 2 (April 2007), 477-478.

Spearing, a.C. "Narrative Voice: The Case of Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale."

New Literary History, 32.3 (Summer 2001), 715-746.

Turner, William. "Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2.

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