Significance of the tale to society during the time period it was written in-
This story is not a very wholesome story and especially not back then. The role religion and morals played was much bigger back when this tale was written. The miller was also drunk when he told this story so it was not censored in the least. The actual events in the story are somewhat vulgar and writing this story back then would be a much bigger deal than it would be today.
Significance of the tale in modern times-
The story still is considered slightly inappropriate but it is far less frowned upon now. The role of religion and morals is still important but is not as big a part of our society today. Religion and morals are more of an individual choice than a forced way of life and people today can simply make the decision whether or not they want to read something like this story. Our society has also evolved many of it's ideas on what is acceptable and what isn't allowing for this story to be looked at objectively. Even if some people don't agree with the stories contents we can look at The Miller's Tale for what it is. It is am important part of middle English literature and whether or not it follows an individuals' moral standards we can keep an open mind and still take something away from the tale.
Irony-
Dramatic Irony: We know that Alison is going to trick Absolon into thinking he is kissing Allison, but we know that something else is going to happen.
Verbal Irony: "And so the Carpenter's wife was truly poked." The author is making a joke about what happened by adding a double meaning to this sentence.
Verbal Irony: "And so the Carpenter's wife was truly poked." The author is making a joke about what happened by adding a double meaning to this sentence.