Curious Labor in the Miller's Tale

In The Miller's Tale, John's reference to the fall of an astrologer raises questions concerning labor, speculation, and what counts as useful knowledge. Drawing on the history of speculative curiosity, Hans Blumenberg's concept of metaphorology, Antonio Gramsci's analysis of intellectuals, and others, this article examines how Chaucer repurposes a well-known anecdote to stage the confrontation between intellectual and manual labor. The Miller's Tale neither constrains curiosity nor validates anti-intellectualism towards those who speculate for a living: both the intellectual labor of academics and the supposed virtuous simplicity of those who labor with their hands are revealed as equally worthy of laughter.