Evocation of Biblical Symbols in the Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century masterwork, is filled with Biblical references. There are mentions of Christ's visitation of Cana in the Wife of Bath's tale, for instance, and several notable examples of one or another pilgrims' invocations of holy saints, albeit somewhat vulgar prayers such as they are. Indeed, the entire entourage from London to Canterbury could be viewed as a remake of the Noah's Ark story, with individual pilgrims assuming the numerous bestial parts along the way. Can anyone read the miller's physical description and not imagine a swinish, rather base fellow, with his black nostrils, porcine wart, and generally feral disposition? Even the description of the wife of Bath herself evokes an image of an earthly, common woman, rather like a she-bear in heat. And she appears to have 'known' many men in the biblical sense.But the most direct, and most interesting biblical reference may be found in the miller's tale. In this particular tale,
the miller, or grain grinder, the same fellow who wears the wart athwart his nose and plays the bagpipes, recites a rather lurid story about a young woman named Alisoun, her decrepit old husband, John, a young, rather randy boarder named Nicholas who lusts after the young wife, and yet another potential suitor for her affections, the young clerical aide, Absalon.In the course of the tale, Nicholas essentially throws himself at young Alisoun, grabbing her in a decidedly crude fashion. He then apologizes, makes atonement to her in such a fashion that she more than forgives him, and the two conspire to spend the night together at the first opportunity. To get the husband out of the way, Nicholas tricks old, gullible John into believing that the second deluge is coming, an even more devastating flood than Noah's. John, believing that Nicholas has seen an omen in his astrolabe, agrees to do as the young fellow urges. He gathers three wooden tubs, hangs them in the rafters, and v
ows to remain silent as the coming flood begins.The young church cleric and altar boy Absalon then wanders by, and proceeds to sing under Alison's window, hoping to woo her away from both John and Nicholas. The stage is set, as all three plotters await the expected outcome, which for neither of them is what they most desire, of course.In the dark of night, Absalon steals away to Alison's window once again. He calls inside, demanding that she at least allow him one kiss. In the darkness, Absalon has no way of discerning that Alisoun has given him access to her in quite the way she has: The young wife inserts her buttocks into the window frame. Absalon plants his kiss firmly between her naked cheeks, and then immediately recoils, feeling what he never expected to find on his beloved's fair face--a beard!Enraged, Absalon races to a blacksmith's shop, where he gathers a hot poker, and scrambles back to the window. Demanding yet another kiss, the vengeful Absalon waits there. Thi
s time, the respondent at the window turns out to be Nicholas. The crude and spiteful Nicholas then thrusts his derriere out the window, and produces a terrific explosion of flatulence. At this, Absalon brands Nicholas on the buttocks. In searing pain, Nicholas screams at the top of his lungs, demanding "Water! Water!"Startling wide awake at this, and hearing cries of "Water! Water!," John in his treetop wooden vessel initiates his flood measures, crashes to the (dry) ground, breaking his arm, and interrupting the chaotic merriment gone awry with his cuckolding wife and her potential suitors.As for the biblical reference, the ending to this tale arrives filled with symbolism and admonition from the author. Alisoun is Eve, the young, naive' wife cast in with a husband, (God himself), who appears to be ancient, distant, jealous and unable to satisfy her. Nicholas is Satan, constantly prying into the secrets of God, never satisfied with things as they appear, and ambitious to k
now whatever he can discover in the depths of the universe. The pursuit of knowledge, especially in scientific matters, was still viewed with deep suspicion by the 14th century commoner. John was a carpenter by trade, as was Christ. His position in the tree in a wooden craft, his broken arm at the tale's conclusion, and his fall, wherein he acquired the broken limb, represent Christ's sacrifice on his wooden cross for his scheming, sinful children below.Absalon is Adam, who, in kissing Alisoun's naked cheeks, which resemble and symbolize an apple, gave in to the temptation of which he and Eve were warned. The knowledge of good and evil, and further, the pursuit of sexual knowledge was the fruit of the tree, and once they partook, chaos was the result. In the miller's tale, none of the plotters or philanderers got what they wished. At the conclusion, all was lost. The only possible winner was John. Despite his broken arm, he'd seen his suspicions confirmed, that Alison was no
t to be trusted.

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