The Miller’s Tale conveys the themes of lust, scheming, trickery, and revenge. In this essay I will explain how these themes shine through the characters Chaucer constructs in his story. In addition, Tracey Jordan puts forth an interesting analysis regarding the aspect of love in the Miller’s Tale that I will discuss.

The basis of duplicitous and lustful love, as opposed to true and courtly love is a major theme in this tale. When Nicholas courts Alison, he does so in a very offensive and vulgar way. For instance when he “held her by the haunches hard and tight” and demanded she make love to him at once (Chaucer 85). This mating ceremony hardly follows that of the chivalrous ideal if the time. The carpenter portrays a fond lover to his young beautiful wife Alison. For example, when he learns everyone will drown under a monstrous flood, his first reaction is pity for his wife when he says “Ah my poor wife! Must she be drowned?” (Chaucer 91). However, Chaucer also notes that this is due to his longing for his youth and this desire leads him to be very jealous and controlling of young Alison. Alison tells Fly Nicholas “My husband’s eaten up with jealousy” (Chaucer 85).

Following the theme of duplicitous love, Alison and the young scholar Fly Nicholas go behind the back of the carpenter in their plot to frame him as a madman and make love. First in this plot we see the greedy lust of Nicholas when he “began to plead” for intercourse until Alison settled and then “He stroked her loins and gave her a sweet kiss” (Chaucer 85, 86).  Sexual assault and begging for the physical aspects of love is hardly a concrete way of beginning a relationship. The addition of deceit to adultery simply adds insult to injury towards the carpenter. The two secret lovers decide that Nicholas will “hatch some stratagem to fool the silly jealous husband” (Chaucer 88). Consequently the two lovers, through deceit, decide to make a cuckold out of the ignorant carpenter.

The Miller’s Tale also separates itself from other tales by the harsh revenge it contains. At the end of the tale, Absolon is first tricked into kissing Alison on the anus. He reacts by swearing to Alison that he would “pay her out” and have his vengeance (Chaucer 97). He does just that when Fly Nicholas tries the same prank by sticking his anus out the window, Absolon smites Nicholas with a hot iron “smack in the middle of the arse” (Chaucer 98). This shows the prevalence of foulness and revenge in this tale.

In her rhetorical analysis of the Miller’s Tale, Tracey Jordan makes some very persuasive observations. However there are some aspects of the play she may have disregarded. Jordan completely discounts romance as a key subject of the tale. She overlooks the elements of naive puppy love, which underlies this romantic love triangle.

I do agree with Jordan in her argument that lustful and brutish love does account for a majority of the affection shown in this tale. Nicholas’ unconventional approach to winning over Alison was one that was guided mainly by his libido and was not necessarily thought through. For example Nicholas “began one day to flirt and play about with this young wife” (Chaucer 85). He began chasing Alison head on the very day that her husband left. This is a clear example of a lack of thought on Nicholas’ part.

I can relate to these young characters as a recent fellow traveler in the age of puberty. Curiosity is a major aspect of this hormonal stage of life. I believe that Fly Nicholas was intrigued by Alison and perhaps was not thinking with his head when he went to push the boundaries of marriage. Jordan notes that “Like his music, Nicholas’ studying is a sexual activity” (Jordan 89). This is a very interesting observation and one that draws personal connections. Nicholas’ ignorance, or defiance depending on how it is interpreted, shows that he lets his curiosity take precedence over societal norms such as matrimony. In my teenage years I have seen my peers commit very stupid, dangerous, and inconsiderate acts simply because they either forgot or chose not to consult their conscious. For instance, I have a friend who refused to wear his seatbelt all throughout high school because it angered his father. In relation to the Miller’s tale, Nicholas has a hunger and curiosity for knowledge that comes in the form of Alison. This chase of Alison perhaps leads Nicholas to overstep his boundaries. Jordan wisely points this out in her study of the tale. She states that “Nicholas’ eager curiosity, his desire to acquire knowledge of the stars… [is an] expression of his desire for sexual knowledge” (Jordan 88). I had not noticed this slight sexual innuendo Chaucer included.

However, I also believe that Chaucer shows traces of true affection as well that Jordan might have not picked up on. The puppy dog love shown by Absolon toward Alison is present when he “woos her daily” with his singing and showers her with gifts of “honey wine, mead, and spiced ale” (Chaucer 87). This chasing and pleading is very characteristic of young and naive love, whether it is reciprocated or not. In addition, despite Nicholas’ strange approach to a relationship with Alison, he does show signs of romanticism throughout the tale. When hatching their evil plan to fool the carpenter, their motive is to have Alison “sleep in the arms of Nicholas all night, for that was his desire, and hers also” (Chaucer 88). Their motivation is not necessarily just to have sex and be done with it, but to embrace each other and be in the others presence for as long as possible. This is a great show of romanticism that is overlooked by Jordan. Putting this into the context of a fellow teenager, I can readily say that while hormones and emotions may be rushing, even strong shows of lust usually have some foundation of romantic love.

Jordan uses an interesting approach to explain the interactions between the love triangle in the play. She paints Absolon in a homosexual light saying he is “quite feminine, with his high voice, romantic affections and easily offended sensibility”  (Jordan 91). She then says that Absolon “always seems to have an excuse not to get too close to women” (Jordan 91). Thus Jordan suggests that Absolon’s personality and enthusiasm for courting is just a mask for his true sexuality. I do in fact agree that Chaucer painted Absolon in a questionable light in this respect. However, coming from a contemporary culture of teenage love, I have experience to think otherwise of the young minister.

In young love, there is a common practice of a good guy being overlooked by the female who consequently chases the bad boy. Absolon who takes the less direct (and more elegant) approach to wooing Alison is overlooked as she favors the daring and bold Nicholas who takes what he desires. We see this trait come out in him in the tale when he sneaks up behind Alison and “on the quiet caught her by the cunt” (Chaucer 85). This daring move is definitely a show of confidence on Nicholas’ part. Translating this into a modern situation that I have more experience with, I would characterize Nicholas to be a biker, and Absolon a band geek who wears his heart on his sleeve. Alison would be the popular high school girl who may not necessarily be searching for a mate who knows all of Bach’s greatest works. In the famous words of Cyndi Lauper girls just want to have fun. Or in other words, the enthralling and fast paced relationship offered by Nicholas might be more appealing to Alison. In my experience, popular girls in high school have the stigma of being harsh in judgment and rejection. I have seen girls of this nature spread nasty rumors and form exclusionary cliques that spread hate like wildfire. This characterization would explain Alison’s mean-spirited response to Absolon’s offerings.

Chaucer introduces his audience to a crude and very graphic story with the Miller’s Tale that contains lust, scheming trickery, and revenge. He also adds deeper meaning to the story that can be hard to interpret at first glance such as Nicholas’ all-encompassing curiosity that Jordan introduces. However, every individual can take away meaning as I have with my deduction of the tale containing traces of true love.

 

Works Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey, and David Wright. The Canterbury tales. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Print.

Jordan, Tracey . “Fairy Tale and Fabliau: Chaucer’s the Miller’s Tale.” Studies in Short Fiction 21.2 (1984): 87-93. EBSCO Host. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.