‘Lo, which a greet thing is affeccioun!
Men may dyen of imaginacioun,
So depe may impressioun be tale.’
Lines 503-505
Chaucer shows his skill as a writer by using satirical comedy to emphasise John’s actions. As ‘The Canterbury Tales’ were likely to have been told to the educated members of society, from the 1300’s onwards, it is easy for Chaucer to create comedy by using the gullibility and simplicity of John the carpenter to appeal to the satirical point of view taken by the educated on the un-educated. Chaucer also uses John’s concern for the people around him, especially Alison, to create satirical comedy. It is ironic that John’s concern for his wife is allowing her to betray him. Comedy is also added when John tells Alison of the flood and the plan to escape it as Alison knows the truth and is more educated than her husband. This reverses typical gender roles suggesting the John is even more un-educated than hinted at by his stereotype:
‘Help us to scape, or we been dede echon!
I am thy trewe, verray wedded wyf’
Lines 500-501
John is also ridiculed by his servants, who he sends on a false errand to London. This is more ironic as it means they will not be there to witness Alison and Nicholas’ affair.
In this extract, Chaucer shows ‘The Miller’s Tale’ as a parody of the bible. The three tubs that John suspends from rafters are a representation of Noah’s arc. Comedy is again created by the ignorance of John to religion as it was promised that the world would never be destroyed again.
Chaucer uses a French literary form called a fabliau. This is a brief comic tale, often written in verse, which is usually insulting and obscene. Fabliaux usually target greed, hypocrisy, and pride, and they also prey upon old age, ignorance, and husbands’ attempts to guard their wives' chastity. In ‘The Miller’s Tale’ a fabliau is especially appropriate as it is plot driven with characters depicted in a particularly unflattering way, although, Chaucer uses his skill as a writer to increase the richness of the fabliau as his characters are more than stock types; meaning his writing is multi-layered. A fabliau usually takes place in the present and describes, in great detail, something familiar to the reader by presenting vivid images of occurrences in everyday life:
‘Til that the belle of laudes gan to ringe,
And freres in chauncel gone singe.’
Lines 547-548
This realism of setting maintains decorum being that the style and genre are fitting to the plot. A plot that is vulgar and crude also maintains decorum as it is fitting to the characters within the tale as well as the Miller himself.
The representation of John in this extract of ‘The Miller’s Tale’ is also very important. He is shown as gullible and superstitious; both traits mocked by more educated members of society. John’s lack of education causes him to trust someone he believes to be superior to him; Nicholas. The influence Nicholas exerts over John is extensive as John is naïve and quick to trust. Nicholas’ character uses this to get to Alison, John’s wife. John shows devotion to Alison, ‘his hony deere’ and is very concerned for her welfare. This is ironic when his great concern is used against him by both Alison and Nicholas to distract John from their affair. John’s representation is based on a stereotypical strong, bawdy and simple-minded carpenter; however, Chaucer adapts this to add humour to the tale. Not only does John’s ignorance cause his behaviour to seem rash and often foolish but also enables Nicholas to manipulate him in many ways. John’s ignorance of the bible may have also been comical to many of the audiences of the 14th century as religion was an important part of life that was well known to all. The Miller also uses John in an attempt to antagonise the Reeve in the first layer of the tale, that Chaucer has created, of the pilgrim’s themselves. The Reeve has also been cuckolded, like John, and the Miller is suggesting that the Reeve is similar to John in ignorance also.
Chaucer has succeeded in creating a multi-layered network of tales to form ‘The Canterbury Tales’ as a whole and ‘The Miller’s Tale’ is just a small part of this network. Lines 492-548 are important in advancing the plot of ‘The Miller’s Tale’ and also in giving comedic entertainment to the pilgrims and the reader of the tales. The extract also furthers the plot between the pilgrims as it shows the relationships between them, for example, the feud between the Miller and the Reeve. Theses lines are also important in showing literary forms and genres used by Chaucer with great skill, from the multi-layered commentary using both himself and a fictitious character to tell the tale to the use of satire, parody and fabliau together in the tales as a whole.
