So far, this is my favorite story that we have read. I guess it is one of the easiest stories to relate to, since there are so many themes that go on in todays society. The story begins with telling the reader that John was an older man, married to a young 18 year old women, which he was a very jealousy of all the attention she got from other men, because she was so young and pretty. Then comes Nick [the astology student] who like every other man, finds Alisoun attractive, he flirts with her, and at first she isn't interested due to the fact that she is married. But after a while, she becomes interested in Nick and they decide to make a scheme. Nick told John that a flood was coming and he would have to put his bathtub on the roof and sleep up on the roof all night, if it was me, I would have a hard time believing that story! Nick couldn't come up with ANYTHING better to tell John?? Of course, the "flood story" worked, so all three of them [John, Nick and Alisoun] went on the roof and Nick amd Alisoun waited till John fell asleep then they went downstairs [just downstairs, they could have went someplace farther away] and slept together. Everything was going as planned, but they forgot one person, Absolon, I guess his part was to provide more of a funnier feel to the story. I feel bad for him, because he was so in love with Alisoun, but she just used him as her comedy. Then after EVERYTHING that went on, Nick and Alisoun made John look like a fool and a crazy old man!
The only problem I have with the story is, how could John sleep through everything that went on with Absolon, Alisoun and Nick?? He slept until Nick got branded in the butt and was screaming water!! They couldn't have been that quiet!
I found these pictures on a website...http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/millimg.htm
The first picture is the begininning when Nick came to live with John & Alisoun, the second pictures is John building the bathtub for the "flood" & the third one is when Nick & Alisoun had sex that night.
I have to agree that this tale does feel like what goes on in today's world. If Chaucer is writing of such things then this type of lifestyle of cheating and lust must have been happening in this time era. Really its been going on since the creation of Adam and Eve.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely take every tale of Chaucer's (that I have read throughout my English education) and compare those to real life that is still happening in this century, and it is simply because he depicts the different character types everything from the noble knight in shining armor to the player (squire) to the flirt (wife of bath) to the deceitful religious men..and so on
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I honestly didn't think that all the tales would be like the Millers Tale, & could be linked to our time.
ReplyDeleteYour right, I think alot of what he writes about, had to be happening in that era!! It's just so wierd how much went on back then in Chaucer's time & we can relate to it now, in today's time! It shows that some things have changed during time but alot of things were still going on back in that time [like cheating, jealousy, & love] & haven't really changed through time at all.