'A Whit Thyng in Hir Ye': Perception and Error in the 'Reeve's Tale'

Description: The "whit thyng" the miller's wife sees in the dark bedroom is not the clerk's nightcap. Instead, the term is taken from medieval philosophy, wherein objects are first judged by color. On closer inspection, they become human and take form. The "white thing" is often subject to human error. Thus, RvT, like other stories in the first fragment, explores "the limitations of human perception."