Further use of irony is evident when Nicholas sings the ‘Angelus ad virginem’ in his room. This is ironic as Gabriel came to Mary when Joseph went away. As a result, Nicholas is portrayed as seeing himself as the angel Gabriel coming to visit Alison. This is another example of the juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane.
The Miller uses proleptic narration when describing Alison. She is more delightful to look at than a ‘pere-jonette tree.’ This motif of the fresh pear tree suggests that Alison is young yet fully developed (ripened early). Furthermore, it relates to the Merchant’s Tale where the pear tree becomes a symbol of adultery. This insinuates the fact that Alison will later commit acts of adultery.
The juxtaposition of adultery is apparent when having planned adultery with Nicholas, Alison goes to church. This shows that Alison does not feel guilty or ashamed of what she is going to conduct. It also highlights the fact that she is an irresponsible, wild, spontaneous and reckless character. Another example of the combination of religion and the profane is shown when Nicholas says that he had a vision of a flood from God-‘it is Cristes conseil that I seye.’ Again, Nicholas is depicted like Gabriel as he allegedly delivers a message from God.
Nicholas uses the biblical story of Noah to create an opportunity to be alone with Alison. This shows how cunning and deceiving Nicholas is. The impression given by Nicholas seems to suggest that God has identified him to save John and Alison and himself alone. This is scandalous because Nick’s sole intention is sexual conquest and therefore the great flood is simply an absurd ploy used to trick John. Here, John is portrayed as being very stupid and gullible because the Bible states that the world should end with fire and not by a flood as Nicholas seems to suggest. This indicates how ignorant John is because he should have known about this piece of common knowledge and therefore would not have so readily believed the nonsense that Nick has told him.
The Miller uses satire against John to make him seem foolish and stupid. The Miller ridicules John the carpenter, as he blindly believes Nicholas’ absurd forecast of the flood. He is also presented as being very foolish for having married such a young wife because he gets cuckolded in the end. The eipithet ‘sely’ used by the Miller adds emphasis to John’s ignorance and foolishness. The reason that the Miller depicts the carpenter as this unknowledgeable and foolish character is because he despises the Reve who is a carpenter himself. As a result, the Miller humiliates and mocks the Reve by mocking John.
There are three narrative layers in the Miller’s Tale. They are Chaucer the poet, Chaucer who is a pilgrim and finally the vulgar Miller himself who uses crude and bawdy language.
Chaucer makes a deep ironic transition from the ‘melodie’ of adulterous pleasure to the chanting of psalms by the religious brotherhood when he states that Alison and Nicholas conducted acts of ‘solas’ until the ‘the belle of laudes’ started to ring. This is the bell of the monastery used to call the monks to pray. Lauds, the first service of the day usually ends with the singing of the psalm which begins with ‘Praise ye the Lord.’ This makes it very ironic as this religious exaltation makes it seem that the monks are celebrating Nicholas’ achievement rather than condemning him. This is controversial because the friar and the monk in the Canterbury tale were corrupt themselves.
Throughout the tale, the Miller uses sarcastic and patronizing tone to depict Absolon. The epithet given to Absolon is ‘joly.’ This gives the impression that he is silly and not very masculine. He is also compared to a ‘mirie child.’ This patronizing compliment underlines Absolon’s foolishness and immaturity. The language associated with Absolon is feminine. The Miller uses words such as ‘gay’ and ‘joly’ to make him appear very effeminate.
Generally, the language used by the Miller is colloquial and mostly in iambic pentameter. The Miller’s tale is more realistic than the idealistic romance that is portrayed in the Knight’s Tale.
The Miller parodies the Knight’s Tale to create humour and possibly to offend the Knight. The style in which the Miller begins his tale is similar to the style used by the Knight. He starts off with-‘once upon a time’ which is fairy tale like. It is used to mock the Knight’s Tale. Furthermore, the Miller’s tale is similarly framed by a love triangle. Absolon is a parody of the courtly lover as he woos Alison with songs and conducts his seduction in public just like Arcite and Palamon who woo Emily in the Knight’s Tale. When Nicholas woos Alison, the language that he uses is like a courtly lover-‘Lemman, love me al atones, or I wol dyen, also God me save!’ This suggests that he would rather die than not to have Alison’s love. Consequently, the technique of parody is used to mock the Knight.
On the other hand The Miller’s Tale differs from the Knight’s Tale as it is set in the contemporary world and not the epic or heroic past. Also, the characters are lower class people and not aristocrats. Additionally this tale does not involve idealized love but instead there is heavy emphasis on cunningness, deception and stupidity and not virtue and morals.
Overall, the juxtaposition of the sacred and the erotic is very effective in synchronizing with the bawdy and witty characteristic of this fabliau. In conclusion, the narrative techniques help to establish the Miller’s unique and successful style of storytelling.
