Theme Of Alison In The Miller's Tale

Throughout history men were always seen as the superior sex, and women as the downfall of men. But in recent years women have made extraordinary advances in social and economic power, becoming the 21st century equals of their male counterparts. However, if one were to be skeptical of these beliefs they need only look into the past and see the way women were perceived in historical literature. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is such a window one can look into and see the perception of women in the medieval period, or at least how he viewed them. The women of the period are displayed through multiple characters, but two of the most known are Alison, of “The Miller’s Tale,” and The Wife of Bath, from her prologue and tale, both of which …show more content…
Alison is perceived as sleek, slim, and a treat, and is compared to barnyard animals like weasels, calves and colts. The description ends with it being said she is “fit for any lord to lay in his bed, or yet for any good yeoman to marry,” (“The Miller’s Tale” 47-84). Alison is not seen as a person, but more of a tool for sexual pleasure. Through The Feminist Theory one can see that Chaucer most definitely has negative connotations. Chaucer implies that a woman should be sexy and sweet on one hand, yet on the other he denounces women for sleeping around with men other than their husbands. Nicholas finds Alison alone while John the carpenter is away, and through force tames Alison the “colt,” He persuades her to join in with him in a scandalous relationship, which she eventually becomes a ringleader of (“The Miller’s Tale” 85-110). To Chaucer a woman was to be weak and be stereotypically subordinate to her male counterpart. Men were supposed to be the controlling factor over females. One could make the analogy that with Chaucer’s beliefs on women, they were much like horses. When riding a horse there are two ways to ride it, either forcing the creature to go where one wants, or loosening up the reigns, and only slightly tugging on them so it seems that the horse is going its own way. Which is what Nicholas does to …show more content…
One can see the evidence of this in the stories by Chaucer that were to be from a woman’s perspective, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” due to the stereotypes present. Such as the power hungriness of women with their wish to be independent of men, yet their continual dependence. As well as the idea that women were evil, deceitful beings that were only useful for sinful pleasure. Let one not forget that Chaucer laid down an unrealistically degrading set of guidelines for what a woman should look and act like, in addition to the fact that he portrayed men to be the unchallenged rulers over women in “The Miller’s Tale.” Hence, when analyzed The Canterbury Tales most nearly becomes a then modern day interpretation of the book that the fifth husband of the Wife of Bath is reading in lines 711-822 of “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue.” The Canterbury Tales is in essence a group of stories which, unless analyzed, unknowingly the reader will be reading stories in which women are degraded with stereotypes that Chaucer avidly believed in. Perhaps if one would not believe that women’s rights have not come a far way, they need only to take a look into the past male dominated literature. If one would examine it with a modern point of view, and all of their beliefs would thus be proven unfounded. All are created equal, and in