On bookes and on lerninge he it spente’ (General prologue 302-3)
The fact that Nicholas lives alone, as a lodger of Alison, by choice may be to preserve the secrecy of his astrological calculations but it is also an aiding factor to maintain his dark love affairs, allowing him such a concise knowledge of such matters: ‘of deerne love he koude and of solas’.
Nicholas is often accountable for the plain-speaking language that would have shocked Chaucer’s audience, which the Miller has previously apologised for in the prologue. For example, Nicholas grabs ‘hire (Alison) by the queynte’; this blunt anatomical term for the pudenda or genitls would have alarmed the audience in this context. Conversely, ‘queynte’ is used in line 167 to mean knowing or devious and in line 497 to mean crafty, illustrating how it is used in different contexts arousing no excitement in the audience. In line 168 Nicholas demonstrates a complete lack of delicacy which is a dynamic contrast with the behaviour of the courtly lover, represented in Absolon’s attempts to woo Alison. Such behaviour is represented in the succeeding lines:
‘…’ywis, but if ich have my wille,
For deerne love of thee, lemman, I spille.’ ’ (lines 169/170)
These lines represent a conventional lover’s declaration ‘unless my desire is satisfies, I’m dying of my secret love for you’. This proposition, initially seeming innocent and romantically driven, in reality involves the more sinister elements of secrecy and adulterousness. Regardless of this fact, the shift from physical indelicacy to the polite terms of seemingly amorous address is comically and incongruously juxtaposed. Another example of Nicholas’ blunt physical treatment of Alison is shown in line 196 when he patronisingly ‘thakked hire aboute the lendes well’; this would have been another comment causing slight shock to Chaucer’s audience.
There are several references to Nicholas in a sexual manner. Firstly his psaltery playing is said in line 107 to be so sweet ‘that all the chamber rong’ which could be interpreted as a double entendre. Also in lines 198 and 544 Nicholas and his hobby of ‘maketh melodie’ is closely linked with sexual love’. There is clearly no sexual attraction between Alison and her much older husband, John the carpenter. Absolon with his ridiculously absurd attempts to woo women and more specifically Alison is similarly ineffective in successfully ‘conquering’ her. It could be possible then to deduce a lesson about the most successful methods to employ when attempting to woo women, similar to those used by Nicholas, the most successful of Alison’s possible three suitors who manages to finally accept him as her lover ‘she hire love him graunted ate laste’.
In the execution of his intricate plan devised to enable him to finally commit adultery with Alison, Nicholas proves himself to be very intelligent. Despite the carpenter’s disapproval of prying into divine secrets mentioned in line 56, Nicholas captures his interest and John submits to listening eagerly to his revelations about ‘Goddes privetee’ in line 346. In order to ensure John’s belief and co-operation with the plan, the method in which Nicholas approaches him is crucial. Nicholas makes John initially feel privileged to know the information about the forthcoming flood when really Nicholas is covering his own back and limit the social damage that this lie will do, especially to Nicholas’ reputation as an established and competent astronomer. Nicholas makes a preposterous statement in line 450, ‘I wol nat tellen Goddes privetee’ because he has been revealing supposedly divine secrets since line 406. Also, the ‘privetee’ involved here is not very godly; Nicholas is simply making his story elaborate and pious to limit John’s questioning of the absurd story. Nicholas also appeals to John’s cupidity in his lines 473/4 by suggesting that they will posses and rule the whole world. Such a ‘sely’ man as John is hardly going to argue with such a learned scholar as Nicholas who foresees such an event which will benefit him so richly. Nicholas also uses absurd compliments and flatteries to win John’s co-operation with the plan: ‘thou art so wys, it needeth thee nat teche’, which is a completely ridiculous thing to say after Nicholas has given him such precise instructions.
Nicholas’ motives behind the plot are known to the reader, but despite this, it is clear that such an absurd tale must have been concocted by someone with ulterior issues at hand. When Nicholas approaches John about the plot, he is already shocked by Nicholas’ bizarre behaviour and confused as to why this is; after he is told John is so distracted by the fear of the impending flood he can’t see what appears so obvious to the reader. Despite the more absurd aspects of the scheme, like Nicholas insisting on separate tubs for Alison and John to ironically ensure that ‘bitwixe yow shal be no sinne’, John remains unaware of the real reason, showing his naïvety.
Upon his discovery of Nicholas in a state of mental disturbance, John makes a statement about how learned astronomers can fall into trouble if they are too busy looking at the stars and not what they are doing. The ponderous moral ‘he saugh nat that’ (line 353) rebounds on the carpenter because it is not the learned astronomer but the simple man who is about to fall blindly into the pit. It is typical that John is often full of wisdom and mockery of the learned man, describing how it is a sin to pry into God’s business and implying that he is better than scholars like Nicholas, but is soon eager to listen to his advice and benefit from his knowledge. This illustrates how fickle and naïve John really is, and how cunning Nicholas has been in deceiving him so well, making John believe he is really the one benefiting from the whole plot. The devout carpenter is also easily impressed by Nicholas’ blaphmous assurance ‘it is Christes couseil’ which is simply part of the adulterous deception. The fact that Nicholas uses such religious terms to deceive a ‘sely’ man and cover for his adulterous actions shows Nicholas to not be very religious or morally driven.
It is ironic that in line 53/6 the theory that husband’s shouldn’t pry into their wives secrets, which concern Alison’s sexual life, into which a husband should not enquire into if he wishes to remain contentedly assured of her fidelity. Nicholas is shown to be withdrawn and fairly unsociable but well-experienced in clandestine and secret love-affairs, and when Alison warns him ‘ye moste been ful deerne, as in this cas’ he assures her of his competency to execute the cunning plan without the carpenters detection. Nicholas is comic in the implication that he and John are both single, guileless men whose charming innocence is symbolised by the white duck in line 468.
The ironic centre of the tale is perhaps represented in the line ‘a man woot litel what him shal bitide’ because it is the carpenter and not Nicholas who is ignorant of what is about to happen and who, despite his comments, is eager to believe Nicholas’ forecast of the forthcoming events. However, the future doe should an unforeseen shock for Nicholas who thinks himself in control of the events and also for Absolon who shortly prior to his humiliation ensures himself that ‘some manner of comfort is coming his way’.
The character of Nicholas is perhaps not the most significant individual personality in the tale but it is quite crucial to the comic and ironic elements that are strong themes running throughout. Nicholas is definitely the most important character in the elaborate deception plot and therefore plays quite a significant role in the climax of the tale.
