‘His berd as any sowe or fox was reed’
In the tale Alison is also described using animal imagery, similar to that used to describe the miller. Alison turns out to be a very dishonest character, so the animal imagery might also be implying that the miller too is less than honest. The miller shows a lot of craftiness and dishonesty in the tale. The miller seems to enjoy relating a tale that involves playing tricks and deceit. An example of a trick that is played in the tale is when Nicholas deceives the carpenter into thinking that the world is going to end. The miller seems to take Nicholas side in this part of the tale, as the miller believes the carpenter is foolish for believing such a story. The miller therefore has little sympathy for the carpenter. This leads the readers to get the impression that the miller sees nothing wrong in Nicholas lying, which gives the readers the impression that the miller is far from honest. Finally there is no moral to the story. The miller told the tale purely for the entertainment of the pilgrims.
One thing that is clear from the start is that the miller likes his drink. The miller apologises in advance for any mispronunciations, due to how drunk he is. Possible examples in the tale include ‘astromie’. This word though could possibly be the miller’s clumsy attempt of saying an unfamiliar word. In the prologue it claims the miller is so drunk that he can barely sit on his horse as it says
“The millere, that for drunken was al pale,
So that unnethe upon his hors he sat,”
However, the miller manages to relate the tale somewhat fluently, so perhaps how drunk the miller was, was exaggerated for comic purposes. Other evidence of the miller liking his drink, is when the miller plays tribute to the ‘ale of southwerk’ in line 32 in the prologue. The fact that the miller is very drunk may explain for his bold interruption and the sort of tale he tells.
The miller is shown to have no regards for people around him, especially the women on the pilgrimage. The tale the miller told, at the time would have been considered not at all suitable to be told in front of women. Before the tale is told the miller apologises for the type of tale he is about to tell, but this does not prevent the miller from going ahead and telling it. An example of what the miller says in the tale that would shock his audience is
“He caught hire by the queynte”
This is the type of plain speaking the miller apologised for before telling his tale. Most of the other pilgrims would not have even considered using this sort of language in front of women and people from the courts. However, the miller is head strong and stubborn, so he does what he wants to do, not caring about the social expectants.
When the miller interrupts the social order that the stories were being told in, it showed that the miller has also, no regards for social status. As the miller tells his tale after the knight, the contrast between the miller and the higher-class characters is even more noticeable. The upper class characters are noble and religious, while the miller is common and outspoken. The miller’s main aim in telling the story was to poke fun at certain groups of people. These groups of people included cocky university students, lustful young wives, foolish old husbands and courtly love. However, some of the pilgrims that the miller told the tale to would have come under the groups of people the miller was poking fun of. For instance the reeve would have taken offence to the miller making a fool out of John the carpenter, as the reeve is also a carpenter, which the miller was well aware of. The miller portrays the carpenter as a foolish and an uneducated old man. The miller rebukes John for his ignorance, which is shown by how easily the carpenter believes Nicholas story. Other evidence shown in the tale of the carpenter’s ignorance is shown in the line 710 where it says
“And thoughte, ‘Allas, now comth Nowelis flood’
The carpenter said Nowel’s flood instead of correctly saying Noah’s flood. This is thought to be an ignorant man’s mistake. The miller was aware that telling the tale would have offended some of the listeners. This though, does not deter the miller from telling his tale, which shows that he has no regards of what people around him think of him.
The social thought at the time was that as the miller was lower class, he was not as well educated as the other pilgrims. Most people thought that as the miller was not very well educated, it meant that he was also not very intelligent. However, the miller can see right through the hypocrisy of various social groups, which includes the church and marriage. The knight, who went first, told a tale of romantic love. On the other hand, in the miller’s tale, the miller presents us with the real everyday world. In the tale, the miller shows his thoughts of courtly love through Absolon. The miller clearly takes sides when he is telling the tale and makes Absolon seem ridiculous. Absolon has a superficial idea of love, which is similar to the higher-class courtly love. The miller makes Absolon idea of love seem even more ridiculous by the everyday setting of the tale. The miller portrays Absolon as foolish and immature, which is exactly the millers view on courtly love. The miller is also very patronising towards Absolon. An example of this is on line 217, where Absolon is described as
“A mirie child he was, so God me save.”
This comment is especially patronising comment, so the miller could emphasise Absolon foolishness. From only reading the miller’s tale the readers can clearly see what the millers views are. The readers can also see the miller is more intelligent than what the pilgrims initially believed.
In conclusion the miller tells a tale that fits his personality. While reading his tale, the readers can get an insight into his personality and mind. The cleverness and twists that occur in this tale show that though he is a churl, he is still an intelligent man with a higher-level knowledge than those who have more social importance. This is reflected through the characters, the language used and the type of tale that is told.
