Upon finishing the Reeve’s Tale, which was also our third tale, I feel confident that there is enough evidence to say that all of the tales share a common theme: the narrators mirror the leading roles in their tales. For instance, the Knight is similar to Theseus because of the chivalry they share, The Miller shares the same belief in “don’t ask, don’t tell” as John the carpenter. And the Reeve is similar to Symkyn who he describes as “sly, and usaunt for to stele,” (L.3940) which is interesting because the Reeve also steals from his lord’s property. But the maliciousness of the story also seems to reflect on the Reeve’s personality. He is clearly angry that the Miller told a tale he viewed as an attack on his hobby (the Reeve is also a carpenter) and therefore, on himself. In response he acts quite spiteful and tells a story that he believes will offend the Miller. While this story is a fabliau, and starts out as that, it also feels very malicious and dark towards the end. Basically all I can say is this: what Aleyn and john did was soooo messed up. The grounds on which they had sex with the Miller’s wife and his daughter was so sketchy, it seemed a little rapey to me. There, had to be said. And although Symkyn was supposed to represent (kind of) the actual miller, I feel like he also represents the Reeve, which ends up being pretty ironic.