Absalon’s personality is of a merry and happy nature, lively and playful, ‘This Absolon, that jolif was and gay’ and we are told how he flirts with Alison (this is important in the plot as it is part of the drama of the tale) in church which being a parish clerk it would be seen as not the right thing to do ‘And many a lovely look on hem he caste, And namely on this carpenters wyf’ therefore we can see Absolon as a religious parody and there is even more reason to assume this as we learn that Absolon takes no money as the poor women will use his church whereby he can use this for is own good by having the opportunity to flirt with them ‘That of no wyf ne took he noon offringe’. His character is brought to life even more when we are told that he is entertaining and there was no where he went without doing so, ‘In al the toun nas brewhous ne taverne that he ne visited with his solas.’
Absalon displays his ironic personality by saying that he does not like swearing but on the other hand, there are nude comments made and also, he kisses Alison’s arse. He is musical of the instruments he plays and how he dances which is brought to life even more as the pace of the section is speeded up which has a ‘dance feel’ to it ‘…as wel coude he pleye on a giterne…coude he trippe and daunce.’ Absalon is full of desire, ‘And forth he gooth’ this is also vital in the tale as it is half the reason why he goes for Alison.
Absalon can be seen in a different light too, there is a suggestion made by Chaucer that there is a darker side to him relating to the cat and mouse image which has innuendoes of rape, ‘I dar wel seyn, if she had been a mous and he a cat, he wolde hire hente anon.’
Absalon’s musical ability is important as we are told that he sings by the low-hinged window to Alison, this becomes realistic to the reader yet we witness how foolish he is as he doesn’t realise that Alison is in bed with John ‘…him up by a shot-windowe….he singeth in his vois gentil and small…’
All what is described in the portrait of Absalon by Chaucer is vital as his ways and means are a catalyst to make him responsible for the three main climaxes in the tale, these are: the kissing of Alison’s arse (desire of love); physically hurting Nicholas (dark side); making John fall to the ground in his tub which makes Nicholas’ plan work (this would be the intelligent side to Absalon). The fact that he has a similar description of that of a courtly lover we can observe this as he speaks to Alison, ‘What do yer, hony-comb, swete Alison’ as these are words that you would find of a courtly lover. We also see how humour is displayed through Absalon by when he speaks to Alison, he thinks that he is “flirting” with her yet she sees it as a joke the way in which he speaks to her and the fact that she is in bed with Nicholas, ‘Go fro the window, Jakke fool’. The sense of melodrama creates humour even more as hear of the way in which Absolon is feeling and how desperately over the top he describes how he is! ‘…for your love I swelte and swete: I moorne as doth a lamb after the tete.’
Absolon also adds to the dramatic tension as his anger is unpredictable and the reader is unaware of how he is going to react to Alison’s joke of kissing her on the bum as we are told how he questions as to whether something is wrong as the kiss he felt was strange, ‘Fie, alas, what have I done?’.
Overall Chaucer uses Absolon as a way of creating humour, drama and tension. In conclusion I feel that we are led to sympathise with Absolon in part because of the way in which love has blinded him and lead him into being the fool, yet we are given the opportunity by Chaucer not sympathise with him as the portrait created is a mixture of being flirtatious and conniving.
