The Miller’s Tale

Chaucer in the House of Fame From “Fame” to “Tidings” With that y gan aboute wende, For oon that stood ryght at my bak, Me thoughte, goodly to me spak, And seyde, "Frend, what is thy name? Artow come hider to han fame?" "Nay, for sothe, frend," quod y; "I cam noght hyder, graunt mercy, For no such cause, by my hed! … "But what doost thou here than?" quod he. Quod y, "That wyl y tellen the, The cause why y stonde here: 1885 Somme newe tydynges for to lere, Somme newe thinges, y not what, Tydynges, other this or that, Of love, or suche thynges glade. For certeynly, he that me made 1890 To comen hyder, seyde me, Y shulde bothe here and se, In this place, wonder thynges; But these be no suche tydynges As I mene of." "Noo?" quod he And I answered, "Noo, parde!

From Noble Story to Churl’s Story The millere is a cherl, ye knowe wel this; So was the reve eek and othere mo, And harlotrie they tolden bothe two. Avyseth yow, and put me out of blame; And eek men shal nat maken ernest of game. (end of Miller’s Prologue) “Whan that the Knyght had thus his tale ytoold, In al the route nas ther young ne oold That he ne seyde it was a noble storie And worthy for to drawen to memorie, And namely the gentils everichon.” (Miller’s Prologue) “I kan a noble tale for the nones, With which I wol now quite the Knyghtes tale.” “Thus swyved was this carpenteris wyf, For al his kepyng and his jalousye; And Absolon hath kist hir nether ye; And Nicholas is scalded in the towte. This tale is doon, and God save al the rowte! (end of Miller’s Tale)

Quiting “Now telleth ye, sir Monk, if that ye konne, Somwhat to quite with the Knyghtes tale.” (the Host to the Monk, Miller’s Prologue) Quit: respond to, finish, avenge, leave behind Miller’s Prologue “I kan a noble tale for the nones, With which I wol now quite the Knyghtes tale.” Reeve’s Prologue “‘So theek’, quod he, ‘ful wel koude I thee quite 3864 With bleryng of a proud milleres ye, If that me liste speke of ribaudye.” “And, by youre leve, I shal hym quite anoon” 3915 “Thus have I quyt the Millere in my tale.” Cook’s Prologue “Be thou nat wrooth, er we departen heer, Though that my tale be of an hostileer. But nathelees I wol nat telle it yit; But er we parte, ywis, thou shalt be quit.”

Structural Parallels Across Fragment A Knight’s Tale DIVINESaturn Jupiter (Juno)(Pluto) MarsDianaVenus HUMANEgeus Theseus Hippolita ArciteEmilyPalamon Miller’s Tale SACREDJoseph/Noah PASTHerod Mrs. Noah/MaryGabriel PROFANEJohn(Gervase) PRESENT AbsalomAlisounNicholas Reeve’s Tale SimkinWife JohnDaughterAlan Cook’s Tale “Maister” “Compeer”WifePerkin Egeus and Theseus are combined into John, Saturn and Jupiter into Joseph (we might find room for God the Father too?). John is then “quited” by Simkin. In the Cook’s Tale’s, this figure is separated again, into “Maister” and “Compeer.” Hippolita and Emily are combined into Alisoun then separated again into the Miller’s Wife and Duagher, then combined again in the Cook’s Tale’s Wife. Juno and Diana reappear as the Mrs. Noah and the Virgin Mary. Arcite and Palamon reappear first as Absolom and Nicholas then as Alan and John before merging in the nauseating person of Perkin.

Taking The Miller’s Tale To Pieces Motifs 1: Old Man Young Wife (cf Theseus?) “Men sholden wedden his similitude” PLUS: “A legend and a lif/Both of a carpenter and his wif” Motifs 2: Two Boys One Girl (cf Arcite/Palamon) PLUS: Herod and the Angel Gabriel Motifs 3: Tale of Three Tubs (cf Temple Prayers) PLUS: Noah’s Ark: The Flood Returns Motifs 4: Misdirected Kiss (cf death of Arcite) PLUS: The Last Judgment Denouement: Simultaneous resolution of all four Fabliau: comic, often obscene story, usually in urban or village settings, with sex, ambition, money, revenge etc. the explicit motives for action. Stock characters include Dirty (or Feeble) Old Men, Sexy Young Wives, Students, Apprentices and other unattached males. Comic justice is about who wins, not who deserves in any moral sense Despite the “churls” who tell Chaucer’s fabliaux, it’s often in practice a “low” aristocratic genre

Giotto, The Nativity (c. 1300) Joseph, an elderly carpenter, is off to the side while all the action takes place without him. The sacred version of the Old Man marries Young Woman motif from the fabliau.

Unexpected Themes 1. Learned versus Lewd, in Love and Theology 2. The Power of Rhetoric (Alisoun’s description) 3. Modernity: How the present uses the past; how traditional stories and ideals are reflected in the present (cf General Prologue) “A clerk hadde litherly biset his whyle, But if he koude a carpenter bigyle.” (Nicholas, 3299) “Ye, blessed be alwey a lewed man That noght but oonly his bileve kan!” (John, 3455) “For every clerk anonright heeld with oother. They seyde, the man is wood, my leeve brother; And every wight gan laughen at this stryf.” (3847)