The Miller Inside and Out Essay -- Character Analysis, Miller, Alison

The relationship between the milling machine and the millers Tale is close, for the tale is a reflection of the teller. The Millers tale is a fabliau, a genre best described as a short story full of ribald and humor. The Millers tale consists of withalts of cuckoldry (Chaucer 1720), foolishness (1718), and secrets (1719). sexual congress such a story, the Miller can immediately be classified as a man of low social status with a harsh sense of humor full of shrewdness. However, as the tale continues, it reveals the unexpected soft side of the Miller as he sympathizes with the distressed woman trapped in the norms of society. Thus, the Millers characteristics of obscenity, deception, and sympathy drive the while of his tale.In his attempt to surpass the Knight, the Miller sacrifices decorum for the sake of entertainment, reflecting his bawdy nature. When first traveling with the Miller, Chaucer listened to the Miller bellow his ballads and jokes of harlotries (1712). Scandalous t opics appear throughout the Millers tale of a young girl so graceful and so slim named Alison who cheats on her husband, John, with his student, Nicholas (1720). When handy Nicholas first encounters Alison, he catches her between the legs and woos her, and they devise a plan to sleep with each other secretly (1721). This lecherous scheme fuels the entire plot of the tale. However, the parish clerk Absolom with his gray eyes and nightingale nature, typical attributes of lusty men, attempts to win Alisons heart (1722, 1723). Although Absolom utilizes every method to win Alisons heart even chewing licorice and cardamom, he ends up kissing her bare bum whereas Nicholas sleeps with her (1729, 1730). Chaucers initial encounter with the drunken Mi... ...nsequences (1732). By effectiveifying Alisons actions and letting her stay put unharmed, the Miller sympathizes with the helpless Alison, revealing his unexpected sensitive quality. The drunken Miller tells his tale of obscenity, decepti on, and sympathy in his attempt to surpass the Knight. Although his physical traits and actions characterize the Miller as bawdy and dishonest, his hidden sympathy for Alison reveals he is somewhat gentle. Each character resembles the Millers attributes. Nicholas is both deceitful and lusty while Absolom is just lusty. Alisons helplessness may exist since the Miller is helpless in his own life, causing him to steal in order to survive in the mediaeval society since it was harder for poorer men to make a living. Thus, the manifestations of the Millers characteristics and their outcomes bring light to the Millers true humane nature.