In “The Miller’s Tale”, Chaucer perfects fabliaux through the gullibility of John, the characterization of Absalom, and through the characterization of the Miller. Both the character’s John and Absalom elicit humor from their gullibility. John placed a substantial amount of trust in his eighteen year old wife.
Utilizing the Miller as the story teller demonstrates Chaucer’s mastery of fabliaux. If this tale was told by a knight or an old sage it could perhaps stand on its own and be a tale whose accuracy was debatable. Instead, Chaucer selected a drunken man to be the bearer of the tale. The man preceded the tale with a disclaimer: “’Now,’ the Miller said,/“Everyone listen! But first I will propound/That I am drunk, I know it by my sound./If I can’t get my words out, put the blame/On Southwark ale” (2068).
The original order was to be the Knight then the Monk, but the Miller jumps in to tell his tale before the Host can object. The Miller claims the he knows “a yarn that will even up the score”(2068).
This statement means that the Knight’s tale was nice and polite while his own will be vulgar and rude. The Miller can be seen as a personification of the Miller’s tale. They both are obscene and ridiculous which makes it difficult to focus on the true meaning of what is being shared, and easier to simply judge for racy, provocative content.
A key element of fabliaux is that the story only seems real. Historically, it is not uncommon for older men to have younger wives. In that sense, “The Miller’s Tale” could be a realistic scenario. However, the difference between John and Alison’s personality break away from non-fiction and reminds the reader of the unlikely pair. John is conservative, static, and old while Alison is adventurous, dynamic, and vivacious. Also, in the 14th century, men married young for procreation. Allison and John bore no children. This marriage was not mercenary, pragmatic, or (a visibly) loving one. It is an empty marriage destined for trouble. Allison, being young and rebellious, was sexually deprived. Since the main characters of fabliaux typically have a strong sexual drive that dictates their actions, it is only fitting that when John leaves for Oseney his sexual absence was to be filled by another and that the other be the student.
The Essay on The Miller Tale Absolom Chaucer
The Miller The Miller is not in the tale, but is as vivid a creation of Chaucer as characters that are. The Knight presents us with an ideal to which he probably aspires; the Miller presents us with the real everyday world. While the Knight stresses the nature of romantic love, the Miller considers love in sexual terms. Neither view alone is wholly true. Each is a corrective to the other: love ...
Alison’s rebellious nature was further emphasized by her prank on Absalom. Absalom was a better suitor for Alison. He worshiped her and offered gifts and praise when he first met her: “He swore to be her slave and used all means/To court her with his gifts and go-betweens” (2073).
Also, he was an established church clerk. Nicholas, meanwhile, was portrayed as more of a boy than a man. He was an apprentice. In adherence with the principles of fabliaux, this is nearly a believable circumstance. Alison’s desire for danger and her rebellious nature would naturally lead her to choose a more dynamic partner. However, the author pushes believability from the cusp of one’s imagination when Nicolas grabs Allison “between the legs” and declares his interest for her: “Sweetheart, unless I have my will with you/I’ll die for stifled love, by all that’s true” (2071).
No woman in their right mind would entertain such behavior, especially when they first met. Allison is miraculously unshaken by the sexual assault and uses this opportunity to get Nicolas to sleep with her as soon as he is able to devise a plan to get both himself and Alison away from John.
John being his gullible self and falling for the threat of a mass flood is a humorous, satirical way for Chaucer to demonstrate how complacence can plague even the most righteous souls. This was a man who trusted and provided for his wife, sparring her from undergoing childbirth, all while taking up a young apprentice, so he was not a terrible guy, just easily fooled.
The Essay on Courtly Love Nicholas Miller Alison
... Miller's Tale" that remains is only a few lines long! Alison offers only token resistance, and while admitting that the ... revelry has its boundaries when he begins his courtship of Alison with gifts from the town. Absolom's fastidious conformity to ... foolishness. But John knows nothing about the proposed contact between Alison and the hasty Nicholas, since the college student specializes in ...
