Summary: The story the Miller begins to tell is of an Oxford student named Nicholas, who fell in love with the 18 year old wife of his host, an old carpenter named John. John is very much in love with his beautiful young wife and very protective of her. One day, while John is out of town, Nicholas and Alison flirt back and forth. Nicholas grabs ahold of Alison, asking her to sleep with him and attempting to kiss her, but she cries out for help and scolds him. He immediately begins to apologize and starts to cry. She forgives him and says that once they have the chance, she will sleep with him. Nicholas calms her worries and convinces her that he will easily be able to outwit John.
Alison is quite the temptress, for she also attracts the attention of Absolom, an overly cheerful parish clerk who is the town's ladies man. He becomes quite smitten with her, serenading her every night, leaving her gifts and money. Alison does not fall for his ways though, for she has fallen madly in love with Nicholas.
John suspects nothing of the two, and only knows of Absolom's frequent badgering. Nicholas devises a plan to get him and Alison alone for the night. He will pretend to be sick and stay in his attic room until John checks on him. For two days, Nicholas doesn't leave his room. When John asks Alison where he has been, she says she thinks he is ill. John sends a servant to check on him and the servant reports back that he thinks Nicholas is immobile. When John goes to check on him, Nicholas gets him drunk and warns him that he has had a vision from God that there will be a flood even greater than the one in the Bible that will kill all the people. John fears for his beloved wife, but Nicholas reassures him that if he hangs three tubs supplied with food from the roof of his born, that when the storm comes, they will cut the rope holding the tubs and float upon the water and be the sole survivors. He warns him not to talk about it, just to pray for safety. That Monday, the three climb into their tubs and once John has fallen asleep, Nicholas and Alison sneak back to the house to spend the night together. After the night together, as dawn breaks, Absolom arrives to try and woo Alison some more.He tells her he loves her and angrily, Alison tells Absolom that she loves another. Absolom asks for a kiss and Alison agrees to one in the dark but when he goes for her lips, he found her "naked ers" Absolom is furious, while Nicholas and Alison are in hysterics. Absolom departs and returns quickly with a red hot poker stick. Alison offers another, but this time Nicholas sticks his rear out and farts in his face. Absolom brands him with the poker and NIcholas lets out a pained scream for water. Upon hearing water, John thinks that the time has come to drop the tubs, and he drops his own, landing hard on the barn floor and breaking his arm. Everyone runs to Nicholas who goes off on his story about the flood and Nicholas and Alison pretend to be ignorant, calling him crazy and delirious. Everyone laughs it off and the carpenter asks for God to save them all.
In the prologue, the Miller is made out to be a very vulgar, boisterous, ignorant, and loud person, with a love of alcohol and little respect for social boundaries. When the Host asks the Monk to tell his story, the drunken Miller interrupts, wishing to tell his. The host wants a better man to tell the story and Chauncer warns the readers of the "bawdiness and the tales offense" and that if they are easily offended, should skip the Miller's Tale. Before telling the story, the Miller tells the other pilgrims that he is drunk and shouldn't be held accountable for what he says. His crudeness in the Prologue is evident throughout his story, as he speaks openly of sex, adultery, "naked ers(es)" and farting. The manner in which he tells his story also reveals his social class, for such topics would not be discussed by members of the church or royalty.
Chauncer didn't seem to like the Miller in the Prologue, frequently spelling out his obnoxiousness and rudeness and how offensive he was. He says of his obsession with alcohol and that he was willing to sell his wife for wine. Issues of social class first arise during the Miller's Tale- the Host wants the Monk to tell his story next and is worried of the Miller's. Though the Miller's Tale fit the stereotype of that class, the way he described the story, his imagery and verse, was beautiful and commanded some respect from the other pilgrims. So while he was perfectly matching stereotypes, he was also disproving them by telling the Miller's story in elegant verse, as if he was warning his audience not to be quick to judge and pigeonhole a person or their class.
Alison is quite the temptress, for she also attracts the attention of Absolom, an overly cheerful parish clerk who is the town's ladies man. He becomes quite smitten with her, serenading her every night, leaving her gifts and money. Alison does not fall for his ways though, for she has fallen madly in love with Nicholas.
John suspects nothing of the two, and only knows of Absolom's frequent badgering. Nicholas devises a plan to get him and Alison alone for the night. He will pretend to be sick and stay in his attic room until John checks on him. For two days, Nicholas doesn't leave his room. When John asks Alison where he has been, she says she thinks he is ill. John sends a servant to check on him and the servant reports back that he thinks Nicholas is immobile. When John goes to check on him, Nicholas gets him drunk and warns him that he has had a vision from God that there will be a flood even greater than the one in the Bible that will kill all the people. John fears for his beloved wife, but Nicholas reassures him that if he hangs three tubs supplied with food from the roof of his born, that when the storm comes, they will cut the rope holding the tubs and float upon the water and be the sole survivors. He warns him not to talk about it, just to pray for safety. That Monday, the three climb into their tubs and once John has fallen asleep, Nicholas and Alison sneak back to the house to spend the night together. After the night together, as dawn breaks, Absolom arrives to try and woo Alison some more.He tells her he loves her and angrily, Alison tells Absolom that she loves another. Absolom asks for a kiss and Alison agrees to one in the dark but when he goes for her lips, he found her "naked ers" Absolom is furious, while Nicholas and Alison are in hysterics. Absolom departs and returns quickly with a red hot poker stick. Alison offers another, but this time Nicholas sticks his rear out and farts in his face. Absolom brands him with the poker and NIcholas lets out a pained scream for water. Upon hearing water, John thinks that the time has come to drop the tubs, and he drops his own, landing hard on the barn floor and breaking his arm. Everyone runs to Nicholas who goes off on his story about the flood and Nicholas and Alison pretend to be ignorant, calling him crazy and delirious. Everyone laughs it off and the carpenter asks for God to save them all.
In the prologue, the Miller is made out to be a very vulgar, boisterous, ignorant, and loud person, with a love of alcohol and little respect for social boundaries. When the Host asks the Monk to tell his story, the drunken Miller interrupts, wishing to tell his. The host wants a better man to tell the story and Chauncer warns the readers of the "bawdiness and the tales offense" and that if they are easily offended, should skip the Miller's Tale. Before telling the story, the Miller tells the other pilgrims that he is drunk and shouldn't be held accountable for what he says. His crudeness in the Prologue is evident throughout his story, as he speaks openly of sex, adultery, "naked ers(es)" and farting. The manner in which he tells his story also reveals his social class, for such topics would not be discussed by members of the church or royalty.
Chauncer didn't seem to like the Miller in the Prologue, frequently spelling out his obnoxiousness and rudeness and how offensive he was. He says of his obsession with alcohol and that he was willing to sell his wife for wine. Issues of social class first arise during the Miller's Tale- the Host wants the Monk to tell his story next and is worried of the Miller's. Though the Miller's Tale fit the stereotype of that class, the way he described the story, his imagery and verse, was beautiful and commanded some respect from the other pilgrims. So while he was perfectly matching stereotypes, he was also disproving them by telling the Miller's story in elegant verse, as if he was warning his audience not to be quick to judge and pigeonhole a person or their class.