Write an essay demonstrating how Chaucer's description of Alison relates to his use of the 'courtly love' convention in the story. (The Miller's Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer)

The portrait of John's young wife occurs at an early stage in the Miller's Tale. This emphasises the importance of her character in the tale since she is described in much more detail than her husband. From this description we see that she "is a small town heroine, whose brows are plucked and whose eye is lecherous, whose forehead shines from washing after work." (Muscatine, 229) The Miller's Tale is a fabliau which parodies medieval society …

…the reader. Bibliography Cooper,H. Oxford Guide to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991 Chaucer, G. The Miller's Tale. Ed. Mack, P and Walton, C. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983 Muscatine, C. Chaucer and the French Tradition: A study in style and meaning. Berkeley: university of California Press, 1957 Kolve, V.A. and Olson, G. A Norton Critical Edition: Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales: Nine Tales and the General Prologue. New York, London: WW Norton. 1989