Many aspects of the “The Miller’s Tale” oppose both convention and the reader’s expectations, and this is a commonality throughout the poem that is introduced in the very first verses.
“The Miller’s Tale” is described by the Miller (who is himself one of Chaucer’s creations) as “a legend and a lyf/Bothe of a carpenter and his wyf”, and it is this description in “The Miller’s Prologue” immediately preceding “The Miller’s Tale” that sets the opening to this tale at odds with the reader’s expectations (particularly following the traditional and eloquent tale of courtly love that was told by the Knight), as in only the fifth line the focus shifts from the carpenter Jon to Nicholas, a scholar lodging in Jon’s home. Chaucer – speaking through the Miller – then goes on to describe Nicholas in detail, ignoring Jon entirely despite it reportedly being a tale of him and his young wife Alison.
Chaucer starts by informing the listener of Nicholas’ passion for “astrologie”, a study with very little basis in science and a practise which requires an element of theatre and falsehood as insubstantial links are made between astronomical events and human lives. The implications of this on the reader’s view of Nicholas, however, is subject to the era, as for much of its history the study of astrology was seen as an academic, scientific pursuit, reinforcing the ‘scholarly’ aspect of Nicholas’ character, whereas today it is considered to be largely based in the belief of the improbable, with the only contact many of us have with the subject being in vague daily horoscopes. For a present-day audience, Nicholas’ passion for astronomy implies that he is fanciful, whilst his practise of it could be seen to suggest that he is fraudulent and has few reservations with regards to deceiving others, an aspect of his character that could diminish a reader’s regard for his character. The notion of Nicholas being a deceitful character is confirmed in lines 191-2, “‘A clerk hadde litherly biset his while,/But if he koude a carpenter bigile.’”, however to an older audience the emergence of this part of Nicholas’ character would come as more of a shock, whilst in addition giving his character more depth.
Chaucer presents Nicholas as a very vain character, whose actions are all directed towards attracting women. Nicholas is described as being “hande” or attractive, however the overuse of this description throughout the poem twists its meaning to imply the opposite, which is possibly justification of his excessive attempts to attract women. Nicholas is described as living “Allone, withouten any compaignie”, which as he is a young man leads the reader to presume is in order to more easily entertain female visitors. Nicholas also makes himself smell “as sweet as is the roote/Of licoris or cetewale”, filling his room with sweet herbs. These are clearly not the actions of a man considering only himself, and suggest that he is desperate to attract women, a notion that is confirmed to the reader by his hasty and forceful actions towards Alison as soon as Jon is out of town. Immediately, he “caught hire by the queynte”, and the shocking crudeness of this language and Nicholas’ actions acts as a sharp reminder that Chaucer is telling the tale through the character of the Miller. Nicholas then “heeld her harde by the haunchebones,/And seide, ‘Lemman, love me al atones,/Or I wol dyen, also God me save!’”. This is both impatient and forceful, with his crude behaviour being completely at odds to the polite language of courtly love that he uses throughout, such as “lemman”, meaning ‘darling’. Both Alison and Nicholas use this language in phrases such as “for youre curteisie!”, “by my fey!”(by my honour) and “I wol dyen”, however their actions are the polar opposite to the typical behaviour of refined ‘courtly lovers’, such as those presented in the Knight’s tale. With this, Chaucer is satirising courtly love and its practise, inserting the stereotypical language into a more realistic situation than in the Knight’s tale to expose the absurdity of it. However, by having the character of the Miller tell the tale, Chaucer succeeds in not only mocking the court and the practise of ‘courtly love’, but also the peasants who have aspirations above their station, and who present themselves as foolish by using only the language of courtly love, whilst not understanding the sentiment behind it as they attempt to act like members of the upper class.
Nicholas’ use of the language of courtly love and his constant referral to “deerne” love could be interpreted as his having aspirations above his social standing, as he is only a student but is using a romantic language usually reserved for the highest in society. This idea could also be applied to his relationship with Alison, who is described as being suitable “For any lord to leggen in his bedde,/Or yet any good yeman to wedde.”. Wishing to achieve a higher social standing, Nicholas is happy to have a physical relationship with Alison, however it is questionable as to whether he intends to marry her if at all possible, or whether he would consider Alison too low in society for to be his wife.
Chaucer primarily presents Alison, the carpenter’s wife, as an object of sexual desire, drawing many comparisons between her and young, frisky animals, such as “wezele”, “kide”, “calf” and “colt”, comparisons that express her animal vitality and youthfulness, but could also hint at an instinctual nature and a lack of civilised manners and morals, which would explain more comprehensively her behaviour with Nicholas and her committing adultery with so few reservations. However, her committing adultery does not altogether make the reader despise her character, as it could be the result of an unwise marriage devoid of passion to a man much older than herself, a fact which is explicitly mentioned earlier in the poem.
Alison is presented as very dissatisfied with her marriage to Jon, as she has a “likerous ye” (lecherous eye), and begins an affair with Nicholas with little argument. In response to Nicholas’ advances, “with hir heed she wryed faste awey”, rather than with her body, strongly implying that her ‘refusal’ is insincere and she desires to start an affair with Nicholas, with the purpose of her ‘refusal’ being an effort to try to fulfil the role of a modest and reserved courtly lover. After yielding to Nicholas’ pleading, Alison “swoor hir ooth, by Seint Thomas of Kent,/That she wol been at his commandement”, an oath which is inappropriate as she is already married, and both odd an unreliable as she is swearing to be faithful, whilst at that moment being unfaithful to her husband.
Chaucer – through the character of the Miller – presents “The Miller’s Tale” through the form of a fabliau. Fabliuax are comic short stories originating (typically) in the northeast of France between 1150 and 1400, written often by, about and for the lower classes and characterised by crude language and obscenity (sexual or otherwise). They are always set in the present, in locations familiar to the audience so as to be more accessible, and they present lively images of everyday life among the lower and middle classes. In fabliaux, there are a number of staple characters, including old men (Jon the carpenter), young men who will often trick the elderly men (Nicholas), cuckolded husbands (Jon again), members of the clergy, foolish peasants, whores (striking similarity to Alison), beggars and thieves, among others.
By presenting the Miller’s tale in the form of a fabliau, Chaucer is both connecting with his lower-class character of the Miller and a wider audience, whilst the character of the Miller distances Chaucer from the lower-class style of writing he adopts and the crude tale he presents. Chaucer further distances himself from this shocking crudeness and any criticism of this in the poems prologue, in which he apologises for the tale to come and lays blame on the Miller, whom he treats as a ‘real’ character.
