December 25, 2010
Advanced Placement British Literature/ Mrs. Turick
Research the concept of fabliaux and discuss the historical implications and how Chaucer perfects the style.
The Miller’s Fabliaux
In The Riverside, Chaucer defines the meaning of fabliaux, “fabliau is a brief comic tale in verse, usually scurrilous and often scatological or obscene. The style is simple, vigorous, and straightforward; the time is the present, and the settings real, familiar places; the characters are ordinary sorts - tradesmen, peasants, priests, students, restless wives; the plots are realistically motivated tricks and ruses. The fabliaux thus present a lively image of everyday life among the middle and lower classes. Yet that representation only seems real; life did not run that high in actual fourteenth-century towns and villages - it never does - and the plots, convincing though they seem, frequently involve incredible degrees of gullibility in the victims and of ingenuity and sexual appetite in the trickster-heroes and –heroines” (Chaucer 7). In the Miller’s tale, Chaucer perfects fabliaux through the gullibility of John, the characterization of Absalon, and through the characterization of the Miller.
Both the character’s John and Absalon elicit humor from their alarming rates of gullibility. John’s gullibility was that of complacence. He placed a substantial amount of trust in his eighteen year old wife. A key element of fabliaux is that the representation only seems real. Historically, it is not uncommon for older men to have younger wives. In that sense, The Miller’s Tale could be a realistic scenario. However, the disparity between John and Alison’s personality breaks away from the shackles of non-fiction and reminds the reader of the unlikelihood of the match. John is conservative, static, and old while Alison is adventurous, dynamic, and vivacious. Also, in the 14th century, men married young often to ensure fertility in their partner. Allison and John bore no children. This marriage was not mercenary, pragmatic, or (a visibly) loving one. It is a truly empty marriage destined for trouble. Allison, being young and rebellious, was sexually deprived. Since the main characters of fabliaux typically have a strong sexual drive that dictates their actions, it is only fitting that John’s sexual absence was to be filled by another.
Alison’s lust for rebellion was further emphasized by the inclusion of Absalon. Objectively, Absalon was a better suitor for Alison. He worshiped her and offered gifts and praise when he first met her: “Wooed her by go-between and wooed by proxy/Swore to be page and servant to his doxy/Trilled and rouladed like a nightingale/Sent her sweet wine and mead and spicy ale/And wafers piping hot and jars of honey?And, as she lived in town, he offered money"(Chaucer 93). Also, he was an established church clerk. He worked in the house of God. Today, working for the church in any way is smiled upon by most Christians. During the 14th century, the church was even more influential and the honor of being clerically employed was even greater. Nicholas, meanwhile, was portrayed as more of a boy than a man. He was an apprentice. In adherence with the principles of fabliaux, this is nearly a believable circumstance. Alison’s desire for danger and her rebellious nature would naturally lead her to choose a more dynamic partner. However, the author pushes believability from the cusp of one’s imagination when Nicolas grabs Allison by the crotch and declares his interest for her: "'Unless I have my will of you/I'll die of secret love- O darling, do!'"(Chaucer 91). No woman in their right mind would entertain such behavior, especially when they first met. Allison is miraculously unshaken by sexual assault and uses this opportunity to entreat Nicolas to sleep with her as soon as Nicolas is able to enact a plan to get both himself and Alison away from John. John falling for the feigned threat of a mass flood is a humorous, satirical way for Chaucer to demonstrate how complacence can plague even the most righteous souls. This was a man who trusted and provided for his wife, sparring her from undergoing childbirth, all while taking up a young apprentice.
Utilizing the Miller as the story teller truly demonstrates Chaucer’s mastery of fabliaux. If this tale was told by a knight or an old sage it could perhaps stand on its own and be a tale whose accuracy was up for heated debate, much like the tales of King Arthur. Instead, Chaucer selected a drunken man to be the bearer of the tale. The man preceded the tale with a disclaimer: “’Now listen,’ said the Miller, ‘one and all/To what I have to say. But first I'm bound/To say I'm drunk, I know it by my sound./And if the words get muddled in my tale/Just put it down to too much Southwark ale’” (Chaucer87).The Miller can be seen as a personification of the Miller’s tale. They both exude social indelicacies that make it difficult to focus on the true meaning of what is being shared, and more easy to simply judge for content. In other words, The Miller’s Tale is so obscure and humorous that it is difficult to search for symbolism and depth. This is a unique and interesting element of fabliaux. The reader easily ascertains the main messages from the story through the importance of presentation. This tale may teach one to avoid complacence because the reader does not wish to resemble the group of fools that they had read about and pitied in the text. Also, the Miller insisted on sharing his tale with his pilgrim audience directly after the crowd had heard the Knight’s tale. The Knight’s tale is a serious tale of love and loss taking place in Ancient Greece. Two men were plagued by prison and exile and found solace in the eyes of a beautiful young woman, and they fought against one another to earn her love. The story had an air of romance and glory to it that made it seem believable. The contrast between the first and second tale draws the reader’s attention more closely to the sloppy demeanor of the characters in the story.
In the Miller’s tale, Chaucer perfects fabliaux through the gullibility of John, the characterization of Absalon, and through the characterization of the Miller. Fabliaux has become somewhat of an obscurity in modern literature. It is a literary art sewn together in a quilt of knowledge. The way in which Chaucer was able to tailor the elements of fabliaux was second to none as he was a revolutionary in the form. His methods of characterization composed the fibers in the threads of fabliux that were woven into a magnificent literary tapestry.
Works Cited
"The Fabliaux." Www.harvard.edu. Ed. L. D. Benson. Harvard, 21 Apr. 2001. Web. 25 Dec. 2010.
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