ABSALOM is a real dandy, as anxious as Nicholas to hop into bed with pretty women. But where Nicholas is a man of action, taking what he wants, Absalom does things the polite way, singing songs under Alison’s window and following proper ceremony. He’s immensely particular about his appearance and his scent, which could explain why he’s squeamish about farting. Chaucer’s description is more appropriate to a romance heroine than to a man, with his prettily curled hair and rosy complexion. He’s not “hende” like Nicholas, he’s “jolly,” which could explain why he’s useless in getting anywhere with Alison. Because he’s so exact about his clothes, some see him as a typical small-town lover boy, without intelligence. But he’s not unlikable. When you’re in love, it’s sometimes hard to think of anything but the object of your desire.
JOHN is someone we don’t really see, in the sense that he’s not physically described. There’s a reason for this: he stays in the background while Nicholas, Alison, and Absalom fill the stage. Yet John, even though he’s stupid, is a nice guy. He’s truly concerned about Nicholas when the schemer is in his “fit,” and his first thought is for Alison when he hears the end of the world is at hand. Significantly, his name reminds us of St. John, whose gospel describes the next “flood,” or Doomsday. The irony to Chaucer is that the carpenter’s knowledge is not true, as opposed to the knowledge revealed in the Bible.
^^^^^^^^^^CANTERBURY TALES: STORY LINE
After the Knight’s Tale, the Host remarks, “unbokeled is the male” (line 7), meaning the pouch containing the tales is unbuckled, but also meaning a man’s pants are undone. This sets us up for the crudeness of the drunken Miller’s tale, in which double meanings abound.
The Miller promises a tale to get back at the Knight.
NOTE: This isn’t a personal rivalry, like the Miller’s with the Reeve, but reminds us that the tales work on two levels: presenting different points of view from tale to tale on various issues, and setting the actual pilgrims against one another.
The Miller also lets on he’ll parody religious themes by saying he will tell “a legende and a life” (line 33), which usually means a life of the saints. But this one’s about a “clerk” (scholar) who makes a fool of a carpenter. This infuriates the Reeve, a carpenter by trade.
The “Chaucer” who’s narrating the pilgrimage apologizes for repeating the Miller’s vulgarity, but emphasizes he has to repeat what he hears. If you want, you can turn to another tale that’s more morally uplifting. But whatever your choice, don’t blame him!
Right off we’re told that the carpenter is a rich scoundrel, and a poor scholar lives under his roof. This leads us instantly to be sympathetic to the scholar. He knows so much about astrology that he can predict when it will rain (it is this talent that later makes John believe him), and also, like a joke on God, knows what the future will bring. Nicholas knows about love that is “derne”–discreet and private, but also meaning secret and sinful. He looks meek as a maid, but appearances are deceiving, an important point to keep in mind.
The old carpenter, who doesn’t know he should marry someone his own age, has a young wife because he fell into the “snare” of love. This will cause him trouble, as we shall see.
Alison is compared to a gold coin, a valuable piece of material goods, but she is vividly human. We even know how far up her legs her shoes are laced. She’s “noble” (a kind of gold coin), fit for a lord, and also fit for a yeoman (servant). This prepares us for the humorous contrast throughout the tale of the courtly with the common.
NOTE: There is also a contrast between this and the preceding Knight’s Tale. Both deal with two men after the same woman, and both concern the issues of love and what is beyond man’s control, though on very different levels.
When Nicholas makes a bold pass at Alison, the sexual references come hot and heavy. He grabs her “queynte” (lines 89-90), which can mean strange, or sly, or a woman’s genitals (here it’s used in the last two senses). He must have her or he will “spille” (die or ejaculate). He adds that his plan will work because a clerk can fool a carpenter any day. This class distinction is humorous in the circumstances, since all the characters are common even though they’re trying to be noble and courtly.
Right after planning adultery, Alison is off to church, juxtaposing the profane and the sacred in a way some might find sacrilegious. By the same token, “jolly” Absalom shouldn’t, as a parish clerk, be hanging out in every tavern in town. He goes to church to check out the wives, Alison among them.
He falls for her, offering her things as befits the conventions of courtly love. But there is an undercurrent of foolishness and lechery: instead of rich gifts, he woos Alison with pies and ale, and he offers a bribe. He even plays Herod as in a mystery play, a role that involves exaggerated language and contortions. But Alison prefers Nicholas.
When Nicholas disappears for two days, John gets genuinely worried. When he discovers Nicholas’ “fit,” John says it’s not men’s business to know about God’s “privetee” (secret affairs), a word that will appear again, in reference not to God but to the affair of Alison and Nicholas.
John tells Nicholas to “look down” (line 291), i.e., away from God’s business, and think about Christ’s passion instead. But the silly carpenter then falls for Nicholas’ scheme, believing that Nicholas is indeed as knowledgeable as God. He’s put his money on the wrong spiritual horse. Nicholas says he won’t tell “God’s privetee” (again, an ironic usage), as if he knows what God’s plans really are.
Hypocritically, Nicholas tells John that he and Alison must not sleep together because they will be awaiting God’s grace. The joke here is that Nicholas doesn’t realize that God sent Noah the flood because man had become corrupt and lecherous. The same sins are causing this phony “flood,” even though the plan this time isn’t God’s.
John tells Alison his “privetee” (secret), although of course Alison knows exactly what the “queynte” plan is, in both senses of the word. She tells John she is his faithful wife–another word that John accepts as Gospel–and John follows Nicholas’ instructions and makes the preparations, just as Noah obeyed God even though everyone laughed at him.
Alison and Nicholas have a merry time of it until the morning church bells ring. The reference to the couple’s sex in the same breath as the church is meant to shock, and to show that man’s plans often unintentionally mirror God’s order.
Absalom goes to the house, believing Alison is alone, and performs a parody of a morning prayer, asking for Alison’s grace and mercy instead of God’s. The “kiss” she gives him brings him down to earth in a hurry. His love is “all y-queynt,” all quenched, but again this is a pun. Like someone in the Old Testament, he vows revenge. It’s interesting that he chooses to come back with a hot “colter” (a plowshare), a backward use of the Biblical adage about turning swords into plowshares.
Nicholas gets what he deserves. And Absalom, because he is squeamish of farting,” gets what he deserves also, for wishing for something he shouldn’t have. And their whole world comes crashing down with John when Nicholas cries for water to cool his burned behind. Justice is served and God’s order is reestablished at the expense of a lower kind of plan.
^^^^^^^^^^CANTERBURY TALES: SOURCE AND STRUCTURE
There’s no source for the amazing complications of the Miller’s Tale except Chaucer’s own amazing mind. However, the idea of a woman sticking her backside out a window for an unwanted lover to kiss comes from a raucous Middle English song called “Old Hogan’s Adventure.”
The form of the tale is the French fabliaux, earthy folktales that involve a wife cheating on her husband. (The church disapproved of such tales, which probably was one reason why they were so popular.) This kind of tale joins profane elements with references to sacred teachings, but Chaucer combines them so successfully that they’re almost impossible to separate.
^^^^^^^^^^CANTERBURY TALES: LANGUAGE
One of the best jokes in Chaucer’s funniest tale is the way the characters use the language of courtly love to gain their selfish, lustful ends. Nicholas and Absalom call Alison “lemman,” sweetheart, and Alison speaks of Nicholas’ “courtesy,” which we certainly don’t take seriously. This is a humorous contrast to the seriousness of love in the Knight’s Tale, and also reminds us that the ultimate purpose of courtly love, no matter how noble it sounded, was sexual conquest.
^^^^^^^^^^CANTERBURY TALES: THEMES
1. NOAH AND THE FLOOD
In the Bible, Noah saves the best left on earth when God sends the flood to destroy the world for its corruption. Typically Noah was seen in the Middle Ages as the precursor to Christ, who also saves. By referring to the Noah story, Chaucer uses the idea of man following God’s plan, even though he doesn’t know what the plan is.