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What kind of person was The Miller?

From the general prologue, in Geoffrey Chaucer "The Canterbury Tales", The Portrait of The Miller begins with describing his physical appearance. It says "Ful big he was of brawn and eek of bones." which indicates that he was stocky, muscular and big boned. It also describes him as being "short-shouldered" which means he is broad shouldered. Already we get the impression that he is fairly intimidating. "There was no dore that he nolde heve if harres or break it of a renning with his heed." This means that no door can stop him from getting where or what he wants. This also adds to the intimidating aspect of his personality. It also makes him seem really aggressive.

It also describes him as having a red beard and red hair which will make people think of hell and the devil so it associates him with evil. The Miller also has a large wart with red hair growing from it which makes him seem even uglier and more intimidating. "Reed as the bustles of a sows eris". In Chaucer's time, the middle ages, people followed physiognomy which basically mean that people were judged on how they look, so the miller being ugly and aggressive and unpleasant looking will have been seen as an aggressive, evil person.

After describing his face and physical appearance for the majority of it, Chaucer suddenly says "A swerd and bokler bar he by his side" which means he had a sword and shield beside him which is odd because they are supposed to be on a religious pilgrimage and you shouldn't bring that sort of stuff with you on one. It is also odd the a miller is on a pilgrimage as they are usually peasants, but it says that he steals corn from the villages so he must be fairly rich. The sword also adds to his aggressiveness. After that one line it goes on to talk about his face again, in this

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