relation to its sources and analogues. The most impor-
tant are two anonymous French fabliaux, Le Meunier et
les II Clers and De Gombert et des II clers, and GIOVANNI
BOCCACCIO’s Decameron Book 9, Tale 6, along with
another Italian novella and two German tales. In all
cases, the plot is substantially the same, especially in
regard to the bed trick, although the characters’ social
status and the motivations differ. This might make the
reader think that Chaucer’s tale is too constrained by
the tradition to which it belongs, but “The Reeve’s
Tale” demonstrates the poet’s ability in handling and
renovating traditional material. It is also unique in the
“bed-trick” tradition in its almost complete absence of
romantic overtones. This motif, in which two charac-
ters unknowingly have sex with each other because of
mistaken identity, was particularly popular in fabliaux.
The mock aubade concluding Malyne’s and Aleyn’s
“night of love” is also unique to Chaucer’s text.
Another aspect that has attracted critical attention is
Chaucer’s use of dialect, as he offers the fi rst extensive
representation of a dialect in English literature. Critical
studies have lately focused on linguistic details in an
attempt to pinpoint the exact dialect Chaucer used and
his accuracy in reproducing it.
More recently, the use of space in the tale’s fi nal
scene—a use anticipated by the miller’s ironic consid-
eration that the scholars may consider themselves wel-
come in his house, since, though it is narrow, they can
“by argumentes make a place/A mile brood of twenty
foot of space” (ll. 4123–24)—has triggered critical dis-
cussion on the use of space and place in the tale, and
on the concept of sight and its association with knowl-
edge. It has also helped to put the miller’s pride in a
new perspective, linking it with his “greet sokene” (l.
3987)—that is, his monopoly on grain-grinding and
his dreams of his great estate, which he wants to
enlarge through marital alliances, thus effectively
founding an imaginary dynasty. The ambition of this
character is thus not simply a comical trait predeter-
mining his downfall, but a marker of social unrest.
Chaucer may also have hidden in his description of the
miller’s pride a satirical note against holy orders and
the abuse of church privilege. For instance, the parson
in the Tale diverts church goods for his own use. At the
same time, the rivalry between the miller and the
scholars has been reassessed in terms of a competition
between university and country wits, transcending the
usual class war inherent in fabliaux to suggest how the
expansion of the universities in the 14th century might
create new social problems. The expansion challenged
the traditionally established class structure by inserting
a new order, that of the clerks, who, while conscious of
their intellectual superiority and their fi nancial disad-
vantages, were made aggressive and perhaps violent by
the uncertainty of their status.
Finally, feminist scholarship has investigated the
“comic” treatment of rape and deception within the
tale, focusing primarily on the “no really means yes”
aspect of Malyne’s and Aleyn’s sexual encounter.
Another avenue of investigation involves the use of
innocent women to punish men.
FURTHER READING
Friedman, John B. “A Reading of Chaucer’s Reeve’s Tale.”
The Chaucer Review 2 (1967): 8–19.
Greentree, Rosemary, and T. L. Burton, eds. Chaucer’s
Miller’s, Reeve’s, and Cook’s Tales: An Annotated Bibliogra-
phy 1900 to 1992. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1997.
Yager, Susan. “ ‘A Whit Thyng in Hir Ye’: Perception and
Error in the Reeve’s Tale.” The Chaucer Review 28 (1994):
393–404.
Alessandra PetrinaREFRAIN In poetry, a refrain is a word, phrase, or
complete line of verse repeated at the end of each STANZA.
The refrain usually refers to the main topic or theme,
but occasionally it comprises nonsensical “fi ller” words
(e.g., “tra la la”). It is often used in poems related to
musical compositions, such as CAROLs or folk BALLADs.
See also BURDEN.RENAISSANCE See EARLY MODERN V. RENAISSANCE.
REVERDIE From the French reverdir, meaning
“to become green again,” reverdie is a genre that the-
matizes the arrival of spring and all of the emotive
associations that accompany the end of winter, espe-
cially love and gaiety. It emerged out of troubadour
songs that often began by evoking springtime (the
“springtime opening”). The genre is often marked by342 REFRAIN