Isaac Atayero
Sir John Campion
Advanced Placement English Language
12/22/11
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s collection of tales, The Canterbury Tales, all the thirty one pilgrims are given an opportunity to tell tales. The Host judges the best tale and the best story teller is awarded with a free meal paid wholly for by the other pilgrims and the Host. Robin, the vulgar and unpolished Miller, is one of the Chaucer’s pilgrims and he is consistent with the tale he tells. The reader or listener expects the pilgrim to narrate the tale he does. The Miller’s social class is also very consistent with his tale.The Miller’s Tale is also coherent with its storyteller because of the frame of mind of the Miller when he tells his tale. The Miller also tells his tale as an intentional attack on the Reeve and a deliberate satire of the Knight and his chivalrous social rank. The Miller’s audience would also probably note his poetic use of adjectives in his tale. These factors are testimonies to the consistency of the Miller and his ribald tale.
Based on the Chaucerian Pilgrim’s description in the “ General Prologue”, the tale told by the Miller is consistent with his character . Another reason the Miller is consistent with his tale is that he is drunk while he tells his tale. Many critics of Chaucer also agree that the Miller is consistent with his bawdy tale. The Miller’s Tale is also expected of him because of its ribaldry. Some may even argue that the Miller is the most consistent with his tale. His tale is so stereotypical of his character that if he told a tale that is not as lewd and showed a streak of intelligence, the reader should be surprised. One can expect the Miller to tell the type of tale he does because of the way he is descibed in The General Prologue.
In The General Prologue the Chaucerian pilgrims are introduced in order of their social rank. The Miller’s social status and features, as described in The General Prologue, fit his “brilliantly told piece of bawdry”( Tillyard 45). One can also expect the content in The Miller’s Tale from the Miller because of his group. There are five groups of Chaucerian pilgrims, and the Miller is found in the lowest group. The Miller is in the group of Churls, a set of impolite and servile people . All the five characters in the group of Churls have a sense of humor in their tales. This is why it is typical for the Miller to tell a “ fabliau, or churl’s tale, is the medieval equivalent of the dirty joke”(Hallissy75).
The Miller tells a fabliau, a raunchy tale, that is typical of his social class. The Miller is more or less “like other sinners against the wisdom of the race”(Tillyard 47) and his tale is reflective of this. Germaine Dempster notes that The Miller’s Tale is written in a “strong local color”(37), which is typical of churls. E.M.W. Tillyard agrees that The Miller’s Tale is based “ ‘on mere pleasant ‘harlotrye’(45) . The Miller would be expected to tell such a tale because “the chief characters of ...fabliaux are drawn from the same lower-or-middle-class level” (Cooper 116) . In The General Prologue, Chaucer describes the Miller as a “great stout fellow...broad, knotty and short-shouldered...and...his nose displayed a wart”(18). The Miller possesses a sturdy apperance and an abundance of brute force. The Miller’s ugly looks and morally bankrupt behavior are all in all coherent with his bawdy tale. The Miller’s hideous attributes are consistent with his “perfect fabliau”(Dempster 36).
Chaucer continues his account on the grotesque looks of the Miller:
His nostrils were as black as they were ...
A wrangler and buffon... a master-hand at
stealing grain (18).
Chaucer wants “our chief impression”(Lumiansky 50) of the Miller to be one of “strength and roughness”(Lumiansky 50). There is physiognomy present in Chaucer’s description of the Miller. Chaucer , “a keen and genial observer of humankind”(Patterson 82) intends for his audience to use his characters’ outer appearances to interpret their personality. Throughout The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses physiognomy because he uses a character’s appearance as an extension of their personality. The reader is supposed to use the Miller’s facial and bodily characteristics to assess the kind of person that he is. Chaucer supports the Miller’s grotesque facial features with his bad habit of stealing.
The reader would definitely not expect a noble tale from an ugly thief. The Miller’s personality “agrees very well with what we would infer from other features of the Miller’s Tale”(Dempster, 37). In The General Prologue Chaucer also chronicles that the Miller “had a store of tavern stories, filthy in the main”(18).This is a premonition of what the Miller’s account would be. Chaucer warns his audience “that it should come as no surprise that the Miller, a ‘churl’...would tell a ‘churl’s tale’”(Hallissy 75). Chaucer basically tells the reader what to expect from the unattractive thief. Scholar R.M. Lumiansky agrees that The Miller’s Tale “fit with the coarse natures of their tellers”(49).
It is quite clear that “the Miller’s disregard for good manners and... liking for gossip and off-color stories”(Luminasky, 50) is in sync with his tale. One can come to the reasonable conclusion that “the Miller’s behavior is in keeping with his appearance”(50) and ultimately his tale. In The Miller’s Tale, The Miller tells an embarrassing tale about the Reeve.The Reeve initially attempts to stop the Miller from telling this tale by shouting “shut your trap!...can’t you handle some other tale?”(87) but the Miller presses on with his tale. The Miller tells a raunchy tale “of an old carpenter and ...his wife, and how a student came and set his cap”(87).
This tale is embarrassing to the Reeve because “he was a carpenter by trade”(106) and it is “not unlikely ... an old man, and a carpenter”(Dempster 36) would be the main character of The Miller’s Tale. This is why at the end of The Miller’s Tale “all the pilgrims laugh except Oswald, the Reeve”(Hallissy 83). It is quite clear that The Miller’s Tale is inspired by the “traditional trade hostility”(Luminasky 49) between the Miller and the Reeve. The tale is about a carpenter being cuckolded by his young wife. The Miller tells the tale to “score off”(108) the Reeve. This rude and low behavior is typical of the boorish Miller. The Miller’s “animosity toward John the Carpenter (the Reeve)”(Patterson 98) is clearly present in The Miller’s Tale.
By exposing the Reeve in his tale, the Miller manages to cause the Reeve’s “soul...to grieve”(106). It should come as no surprise that a man such as the Miller would “ridicule or insult any man and to circulate such a rumor about a wife”(Lumiansky 51) and husband. It is such a low thing to do and it is an expected from a character such as the Miller. The Reeve eventually does use his tale “to tweak the Miller by the cap for lawful ‘tis to give him tap for tap”(108) . The Miller’s Tale is arguably the bawdiest of all the tales. Many critics believe that because the Miller tells the first bawdy tale, his tale is the bawdiest.
Another factor to take into consideration when discussing the Miller’s consistency with his tale is the state of mind he is in when he tells the tale. Robin, the Miller, was “very drunk and rather pale”(86) when he told his tale. It is important to note that “the Miller’s drunken state”(Luminasky 50) influences the content of the tale he tells. Tillyard notes that one should be aware that “the Miller had grown unruly with ale”(45) when he decides to tell his tale. The inebriation of the Miller brings up “strong suspicions about the ‘nobility’ of any tale he might tell”( Luminasky 50). The Miller’s state of mind when telling his tale puts him in the position to be a great storyteller .
The churlish Miller is one of the “least courteous of the pilgrims”(Cooper 116). It is no surprise that the boorish Miller is already drunk before “the pilgrimage is hardly under way”(Lumiansky 50). The Miller, “very drunk and rather pale”(86) abruptly interrupts the Host and promises to “pay the Knight his wages”(87). The “drunken Miller”(108) tells a fabliau because he is in a cheerful mood and is accustomed to telling and hearing morally corrupt tales. Lee Patterson notes that because he is drunk:
The Miller’s ludic festivity bursts into the pilgrimage with rude insistence,
It contains its own self regulation (92).
Drunk and lighthearted, The Miller’s Tale is told purely for the fun of telling a funny and ribald story. When the Miller tells his tale, he is in a jolly mood and this further proves his consistency with his tale .
This causes his tale to not only be consistent with his person but funny and likable. Being in a merry mood allows the Miller to take his time with his storytelling. The Miller’s Tale is appealing to the reader and the listener because the Miller is a merry mood when he tells his tale. The Miller’s Tale is effortless and humorous, making it the perfect fabliau. The state of mind of the merry Miller gives the tale an easy tone which is carried out through out The Miller’s Tale . The Miller’s Tale is also consistent with its narrator because it is a parody of the tale that precedes it.
The Miller’s Tale is a great satire of the tale to prior to it. The Miller’s Tale is a breath of fresh air from the tale that comes before it. “The comic setting”(Tillyard 46) is completely different from the atmosphere of the tale told by the Knight. The “Miller’s quitting of the Knight”(Patterson, 88) through his tale is consistent with his character. Initially the host wanted the Monk to “repay the Knight a little for his tale”(86). After The Knight’s Tale, the Host asks “Sir Monk, if you’ve a tale to tell”(86) because he wants the storytellers to tell the tales in order of social rank. To the Host’s chagrin, the Miller interrupts and puts himself under the pressure to tell a story that equals the Knight’s noble tale. The Miller’s raunchy Tale is expected of him and is truly clever because it does not attempt to mimic The Knight’s Tale. The Miller banters The Knight’s Tale and the notion of idealistic and quixotic romance.
It is important to note that The Knight’s Tale is a “noble story worthy to be remembered for its glory”(86), this type of tale is not up the alley of the Miller. By satirizing The Knight’s Tale, the Miller shows his “rejection of the cultic values of the courtly world”(Patterson 88) in his tale. The Miller decides the only way to truly repay The Knight’s Tale is by telling a tale that makes a mockery of it. The Miller’s Tale caused many of the pilgrims to be “dissolved in laughter”(106). This is because of the simplicity and ribaldry of the tale. The Miller takes a creative approach to The Knight’s Tale because he looks at it through a different perspective. One should note how proficiently The Miller’s Tale:
Launches a pointed attack upon the chivalric ideology so thorougly,
And critically, represented in The Knight’s Tale (Patterson 92).
The Miller puts his own spin on the previous tale and renders an interesting translation. The Miller is seemingly effortlessly able to turn The Knight’s Tale “against the clerical culture from which it originally arose”(Patterson 97). The Miller brilliantly “turns the materials of clerical culture against its proprietors”(Patterson 98). It is no secret that the Miller “absorbed and was absorbed by the characters of those around him with vehemence”(Tillyard 48). The Miller is fully aware that “the parody of the Knight’s Tale requires two lovers”(Cooper 113) , so he has his characters parallel those from The Knight’s Tale. The Miller consciously takes the :
Idealistic devotion, noble rivalry, and mutual respect in ...the “Knight’s Tale”
Are replaced in the “Miller’s Tale” by lechery and vulgar competitiveness...
and uxorious foolishness (Hallissy 83).
This is consistent with the Miller because it shows his disdain for people like the Knight. Being a churl, the Miller is probably used to mocking people from the Knight’s aristocratic class. The reaction of the Miller to the The Knight’s Tale is represented in his tale; which is consistent with its storyteller. The Miller refrains from incorporating idealistic characters like the Knight but instead he tells of low class people like himself. For example, “Alison is no lady, courtly or otherwise”(Hallissy 78). The Miller does this intentionally to make jest of the Knight’s chivalrous characters.
This also proves that the Miller is consistent with his tale because his tale includes characters he would experience in his everyday life. The Miller’s Tale inevitably highlights “the distinction between noble and bourgeois”(Patterson 87) in medieval society. The Miller’s Tale shows how different in behavior and character the gallant Knight is from the crude Miller.The Miller directly parodies The Knight’s Tale by taking elements and events from it and inserting the exact opposite result of the situation.To this cause, Helen Cooper chronicles that :
Instead of the lovers’ rivalry being fought out with all the panoply of chivalry,
It is resolved in the crudest way possible (114).
In The Miller’s Tale,The Miller does a great job of ridiculing The Knight’s Tale and showing consistency with his personality. “Having just heard the ‘Knight’s Tale’ ”(Hallissy 78), the Miller must have felt inspired to try to outmatch it by making a joke out of it. In The Miller’s Tale, the Miller does an excellent job because he tells his tale with an intention “ to outparody the parodists”(Patterson 98).
In his tale, the Miller is quite descriptive in telling his tale. This is also another reason that The Miller’s Tale is consistent with the Miller. The Miller places value on words in his bawdy tale. Tillyard also believes that the Miller’s “characterisation should be taken very seriously indeed”(48). Although the Miller says “I’m drunk”(87), he uses intricate and brilliant descriptions to describe his characters. Since he is probably just either retelling or modifying one of the “tavern stories”(18) suppressed in his memory, the Miller’s descriptions should not come as a surprise to his audience. An example of the Miller using illustrative language occurs when he describes Alison. Alison, the wife of John the Carpenter, is the main female character in The Miller’s Tale. The Miller chronicles that “her apron was as white as morning milk”(90).
He also tells the reader that “her girdle hung a purse of leather, tasselled with silk and silver droplets, pearled;”(90). The Miller consciously makes his audience extremely aware that Alison is an ultra feminine. The Miller also goes a step further and draws parallels between his characters and characters from bestiaries. For example, The Miller claims that Alison’s “body (is) as slender as any weasel’s” (90).The Miller also chronicles that Alison skips like ‘any kid or calf behind its mother”(90). He does this so that the listener or reader is aware that Alison goes from a man to man in search of an opportunity to copulate. The Miller succeeds in informing the reader and listener that Alison “is intoxicating, tempting - and everyone who comes in contact with her falls instantly”( Cooper 112).
The Miller also compares Alison’s singing to that of a “swallow’s chirping”(90). He does this to further illustrate Alison’s lustful lifestyle. The Miller uses “barnyard imagery (to) throngs her portrait”(Cooper 112).Throughout The Miller’s Tale,The Miller continuously tries to show how Alison’s “vernal beauty serves to elicit the male desire that motivates the Tale”(Patterson 91). In The Miller’s Tale, the Miller also says Absalon’s eyes are “as grey as a goose”(92) because a goose in bestiaries has a good sense of smell. This is significant because later in The Miller’s Tale, “Nicholas...let a fart fly...as if it were a thunder-clap”(105) in Absalon’s face.
The intelligent use of animals in The Miller’s Tale makes it easy for the Miller to accurately describe his characters. This also makes it makes the characters more familiar to the Miller’s audience. Helen Cooper notes that “these animals are a world away from the lions and the boars of the Knight’s Tale”(112). The Miller’s social class comes to play yet again in proving his consistency with his tale. It is no surprise that the Miller and the Knight would use different sets of animals in describing their characters. This goes to prove how truly different the two storytellers are from each other.
The Miller’s descriptions in The Miller’s Tale are also very consistent with the kind of person he is. It is quite clear that the Miller is a good storyteller and he understands the value of words. Dempster takes note of the fact that “sources, of the Miller’s Tale can be established from a study of ”(35) the descriptions he uses in his tale.The Miller does not deny the reader or listener a chance to get to know and understand his characters. The Miller’s familiarity with his tale allows his tale to be delivered in a way that is pleasant to his audience. The Miller is very skillful when it comes to describing his characters and this ability shows his consistency with his tale .
Of all of Chaucer’s pilgrims, the Miller is probably the most consistent with his tale. The Miller’s bawdy tale fits his uncivil lifestyle and boorish personality perfectly. The Miller does not surprise neither the reader nor the listener at any point during the telling of his tale. “The Miller’s low tale”(Lumiansky 52) is just what one would expect from a man with the Miller’s background and mannerisms. E. M.W. Tillyard declares that “The Miller’s Tale is a coarse story”(48) and this is mainly because of the Miller’s equally coarse personality. His audience can expect such an uncouth fabliau from the Miller because of his appearance and his social rank. Because of the Miller’s brusque mannerisms, one can expect him to tell a tale just to insult the Reeve and make a mockery of The Knight’s Tale. The Miller’s Tale, although very predictable and especially lewd, is one of the better reads in Geoffrey Chaucer’s classic, The Canterbury Tales.
Works Cited
Cooper, Helen, The Structure of the Canterbury Tales. Athens: the University of Georgia. 1984.
Dempster, Germaine. Dramatic Irony in Chaucer. New York: The Humanities Press, 1959.
E. M. W. Tillyard. “Plot-Obliquity in Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale”. Discussions of the Canterbury
Tales.
Ed. by Charles A. Owen, Jr. . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1961 . 45-48
Hallissy, Margaret. A Companion to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press, 1995.
Lumiansky, R.M. Of Sondry Folk. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1955 .
Patterson, Lee. “ ‘No Man His Reson Herde’: Peasant Consciousness, Chaucer’s Miller, and the
Structure of the Canterbury Tales”. Critical Essays on Geoffrey Chaucer.
Ed. by Thomas C. Patterson. New York: G.K. Hall & Co., 1998.82-106.
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