The Miller- Chris Moe

## The Miller (Canterbury Tales)

   The Canterbury tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. One of the character's in the Canterbury tales was the Miller. The Miller is a very heavy-set man full of muscle and bone. He has a fearless attitude and is always the winner at wrestling matches. A very noticeable characteristic of the miller is the wart growing on his nose with red thistle-like hair growing out of it. He is a very interesting character and he probably is not the one you want to start a fight with or one you want to encounter at night. From his story, it tells us that he probably is not too fond of carpenters as well. A couple things he enjoys doing is drinking and playing his bagpipe.

## Description

The Miller is a lower class, or trade class worker. Aside from being a loud, foul mouthed wrestler, he does take part in the society working at the mill. The description of the miller is a great representation of what the life of a pilgrim was like and how lower class citizens lived. The miller describes a negative, lower-class medieval stereotype. He is known to steal from his customers then sell his mill for a profit.

## Story Overview

The Miller's tale is about a carpenter, John, and his wife, Alison. John rented a room to a man named Nicholas who quickly fell in love with Alison. Alison then falls in love with Nicholas after he convinced her to have sex with him while John was away one day. Alison then goes to church and another man named Absolon falls in love with her. He then tries to win her heart by singing under her window one night and taking part in a play, but Alison ignores his efforts. They come up with a scheme so that they can spend a whole night together. Nicholas tells John that there is going to be a massive flood and the only way they would survive is hanging large tubs from the ceiling to sleep in and once the water comes, they would cut the ropes and float away. John does what he says and Alison and Nicholas spend the night together. That same night, Absolon comes to the window asking for a a single kiss from Alison and so she puts her butt out the window for him to kiss. Absolon gets mad and grabs a hot poker to brand her with, but Nicholas decides to stick his butt out the window to get in on the joke and Nicholas gets branded instead. Nicholas yells "Water!" and John cuts the ropes because he thought the flood had arrived. He crashes to the floor and he gets laughed at by everyone in the town for being so foolish.

## About Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was born around 1340 and died around 1400. He lived through the plague, also known as the Black Death. He was the first poet to be buried at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. He is known to be the most important English writer before Shakespeare. He is also known as the Father of English Literature.

## Chaucer's Opinion on the Miller

Chaucer did not have many comments about the miller. He stated that the miller was big mouthed and blasphemous, he is a churl, and that he is a brute. From the way he talked about the miller's character, you could tell he is not his favorite for sure. The Miller's Tale challenges the conventions of rhetoric, subject and values, which he has first carefully exhibited in The Knight's Tale.

## Sources

“The Canterbury Tales.” The Miller, www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-canterbury-tales/character-analysis/the-miller.

“The Canterbury Tales.” The Miller's Prologue and Tale, www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-canterbury-tales/summary-and-analysis/the-millers-prologue-and-tale.

SparkNotes, SparkNotes, m.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/section7.rhtml.

The Miller, www.csis.pace.edu/grendel/projf20003d/miller.htm.