Between the telling of the different tales, Chaucer usually features the characters reacting to the previous story and then setting up who will share the next one. The subsequent tale is usually a reaction to the one before it, such as the Wife of Bath's tale of female empowerment acting as a reaction to the Man of the Law's story, in which a passive princess is constantly at the mercy of predatory people with only God's interference to save her. As for the question of there being parallels between the tales and the dialogue interludes between them, this is sometimes the case.

For example, in the interlude between "The Knight's Tale" and "The Miller's Tale," the Miller's combination of immense rudeness and coarse humor is meant to be an oppositional parallel to the courtly conduct of both the Knight and the chivalric heroes of "The Knight's Tale." Whereas the heroes and even the princess they both want to marry in "The Knight's Tale" give up personal happiness for the greater good and the sake of friendship, the Miller is selfish. He takes the Monk's turn and threatening to leave the party if the other pilgrims do not allow him to do so.