A Review of Canterbury Tales: The Miller's Tale

The Miller's Tale, which is the second tale of the Canterbury Tales is much more crude, humorous, and arguably more folklore, then the previous tale: The Knight's Tale. The story is also much shorter than the knight's tale, and though I did not enjoy the Miller's Tale as much as the Knight's tale, it was another great classic work of the poet, Geoffrey Chaucer.
 The Miller's Tale is about an old and foolish Carpenter, who marries a very young woman. The carpenter's name is John, and his young wife's name is Alison.  This particular young woman, is flirtatious and cunning in her lustful ways, by which she shares her self with different men. For her, a young astronomer names Nicholas, is willing to lead John into a great lie that the whole world will be flooded by water again, as it was with Noah. Nicholas tells John to gather several bathtubs for each of them, and to put food and drink in each for the coming flood, and John foolishly takes the young man's advise at doing so.
 Meanwhile, Alison and Nicholas are in agreement of their relationship one to another, as Nicholas plans to have the old Carpenter, John distracted from it all.
 Then comes Absalom, a lustful priest, who also takes a likening to Alison. The priest begs Alison for a kiss, and the woman does not return it, but puts her rear end to his face instead. Humiliated, Absalom decides to never love another woman again, but seeks revenge upon Nicholas.
 Absalom goes to the blacksmith to have a hot weapon made, which he uses on the rear end's of Nicholas and Alison, who then both flee the Carpenter's home, warning John of the coming flood, as the two race into the streets when their butts feeling burnt.
 The carpenter foolishly never gets anything out of what has happened, not the actions of his lustful wife, or of the lust that two men shared for her. The Theme of the story then, is the foolishness of the Carpenter, who despite being very old, married a cunning woman much younger than himself. From this woman, Alison, came such chaos into the Carpenter's life.
Such is the second tale of Canterbury Tales.

 ''There is a treasure to be desired, and oil of the dwelling of the just, and the foolish man shall spend it.'' -Proverbs 21: 20



''A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.'' -William Shakespeare.