Consider the ways in which the Miller presents John the Carpenter in The Miller's Tale.
Consider the ways in which the Miller presents John the Carpenter in The Miller's Tale.
In your answer you should pay particular attention;
- Vocabulary and style
- Form
- Any other features of language you consider to be important
John the Carpenter is a character who Chaucer uses to make an example of someone who is extremely gullible. To some extent, the nature of which he is gullible can often be unbelievable because some of the things he does are of a farcical nature;
"Y-geten us thise kneeding-tubbes three,
Than shaltou hang hem in the roof full hye"
The Carpenter is a central character in the plot because he is the person who the majority of the 'jokes' and farces are based upon. The fact that he has such a gullible nature means that he is easily tricked into believing anything of an absurd nature, this usually being from Nicholas. Also, as the tale develops, we actually see it becoming even more stupid. These farcical situations all create to the main theme of the tale which s the mocking of the Fabliaux and Courtley Love.
John is presented to the reader as a character who is extremely jealous and possessive of his wife. Then when John's gullibility leads him to believe Nicholas pronouncement that a second flood is coming, John foolishly accepts and believes what he is saying, giving Nicholas the opportunity to sleep with John's wife. Chaucer therefore presents John as getting what he deserved due to his jealous nature. However, Chaucer gives an equal balance to John's character; some character traits allow to him be rather dim and gullible, but also at the same time he shows a kind and caring ...
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John is presented to the reader as a character who is extremely jealous and possessive of his wife. Then when John's gullibility leads him to believe Nicholas pronouncement that a second flood is coming, John foolishly accepts and believes what he is saying, giving Nicholas the opportunity to sleep with John's wife. Chaucer therefore presents John as getting what he deserved due to his jealous nature. However, Chaucer gives an equal balance to John's character; some character traits allow to him be rather dim and gullible, but also at the same time he shows a kind and caring nature. This is shown, when after finding out about the flood, his main concern is for the safety of his wife;
"Alas, my wif! And shall she drench? Alas, mine Alisoun!"
Chaucer decides to portray all of his characters in different lights. The characters in The Miller's Tale have specific purposes and through the way Chaucer treats his characters helps to create different plots and settings. The central characters have their own section at the beginning of the tale where they are given a description, however, John is never formally introduced to the audience. We mainly find the traits of John's character through Chaucer's thoughts of him which are given as interjections throughout the tale. The carpenter is never a full description but a persona of him is built up through a number of opinions inserted during descriptions of other characters. This suggests from the beginning, the Chaucer does not attach much importance to the character of John and sees other characters as being more important, for example, Alison and Absolon who are described in detail at the beginning. John is giving small descriptions, usually which mock him, like;
"The foolish carpenter was lost in wonder."
The carpenter is never introduced, meaning the audience are not familiar with him as a main character, which is why he becomes part of the sub plot. During this sub plot, this is the time when most about the carpenter is revealed to us an audience. The carpenter is barely given the opportunity to show speech but through his actions and the mocking other characters make of him, we are able to learn most about him during the sub plot.
The carpenter, described as "this silly carpenter", also provides the audience with visual humour. It would be simple to visualize the farcical situation, which the carpenter is in. The nature of what has happened to the carpenter provides a comical situation with expressions " he victualled tub and trough, and made all snug", the scene is easy to imagine and through this we learn that Chaucer treats the carpenter as a relatively foolish 'good for nothing' character, who has got what he deserves for marrying a younger women.
It is clear that Chaucer tries to show John as being the least important, and Alison as predominantly having the rule over both the other two men. However, Chaucer presents the carpenter as being the opposite of how a stereotypical man is. Usually, it would be the man who powers of the woman, yet in the tale we see a reverse in roles, thus showing the carpenter as being weak and unable to defend himself against the strong nature of his wife.
Once again, the whole image of the carpenter being gullible and his wife having 'the upper-hand', adds to the farce which the whole tale is, and contributes to mocking the theme of Courtley Love and the Fabliaux. The Miller is merely presented in the way he is, so that a light-hearted, humouress tone can be added to the tale. The acts of foolish carpenter make unlikely situations occur which are simply laughable at; creating an entertaining tone for the audience.