Miller's Tale Courtly Love Analysis

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Chaucer does not believe that courtly love provides a useful set of rules and behaviours to guide men and women in their relationships, because in the Miller’s Tale he seems to be mocking the idea of courtly love. Through the analysis of the two major characters, Nicholas and Absolon, their adherence to the rules of courtly love and the relative success in their relationships explains what Chaucer is telling us about courtly love. Both characters adhere to the rules of courtly love, however only one is successful in winning Alison over. Nicholas, the poor, clever scholar rents out a room in John’s house and takes a liking to Alison. He begins a forbidden affair with John’s wife that is characterized by secrecy and adultery: “My husband is …show more content…
For example, Nicholas fools John into believing that a flood is coming their way and tells him to hide in the bucket while he spends the night with Alison in John’s bed: “Down by their ladders, stalking from on high/Came Nicolas and Alison and sped/Softly downstairs, without a word, to bed/ And where this carpenter was wont to be/ The revels started the melody” (Chaucer 65). Furthermore, Absolon is the perish clerk who also has his eye on Alison and he represents an imitation of the conventional court lover. He visits Alison in the middle of the night, sings and plays guitar and patiently woos her aspiring to be her page or servant. Although Alison doesn’t give him any she accepts his gifts and tokens. This demonstrates a ritualistic relationship between Absolon and Alison. Also, the adulterous relationship between Alison and Nicholas is extramarital. The ultimate objective of their affair is not crude physical satisfaction, but a sublime and sensual intimacy. “And Nicholas had stroked her loins a bit/And kissed her sweetly, he took down his harp/And play away, a merry tune and sharp” (Chaucer 61). Although the relative success in the relationship between the two scholars and Alison differ, the ultimate loser is John, who is made a fool in the end so that nobody believes his story about Nicholas’s

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