The importance of the tale in Knight's Tale and Miller's Tale In the Canterbury Tales, the Knight begins the tale. Although straws have been gathered and order left to "aventure" or "cas", Harry Bailey seems to have pushed fate. The Knight represents the highest caste in the social hierarchy of the 14th century, those who govern, those who pray and those who work. Assuming that the worldly knight would tell the funniest and most relatable story (which would shorten their pilgrimage to St. Thomas Becket), Harry tells the knight to begin. The knight's story of love, loyalty and battle is placed in the chivalric romance genre. . The courtly romance concerns the mythical kingdom of Theseus, wealthy rulers, and pagan (mythical) gods. Throughout the story, the Knight and the other characters refer to the concept of the "wheel of fortune". At the beginning of the story, weeping, broken women beg Theseus to help them avenge their husbands. Although poor, they tell Theseus that at one point they were all rich and high-ranking. Even though Theseus is glorified and powerful now, the goddess will spin the "wheel of fortune" and one day he will be low. The concept of fate and the wheel of fortune represents the Knight's acceptance of an incomprehensible world. His inclusion of the mythical gods, Mars, Venus, Mercury and Diana furthers this idea. Emily, Arcite, and Palamon each pray to a deity, asking for help and their unattainable wish. Ultimately, Father Saturn decrees Arcite's death. In this way, paradoxical human emotions and senseless tragedies are safely removed; they are attributed to the will of the pagan gods. Likewise, the love triangle between Arcite, Palamon, and Emily highlights that…middle of paper…night, Miller's characters are not moral or honorable; they simply want to gratify themselves. While the Knight's story ends with an honorable death and a union between lovers, the Miller's story ends with a humiliation: the betrayed husband is branded mad, Absolom suffers and mocks, and Nicolas a painful burn. As a result, the Miller mocks the Knight's prayer. He wishes the company well, but the content of his story expresses his laughter. In a way it "paid off" for the Knight's story. The Miller tells his story for a moment to amuse and embarrass (the Reeve and his cameo), while the Knight tells a strong story of "phrase" or meaning. The two different motivations reveal the fundamental differences between the two men: the noble Knight can still believe in a more beautiful world, while the Miller cannot accept that it ever existed..