A more obvious example of incongruity is the scene between Absalon and Alison at her window. Absalon, the incense thrower, is accustomed to smells that are sweet, exotic, and sensuous. He is effeminate, delicate, fastidious, and yet he is subjected to the ultimate humiliation when Alison presents her “arse” to be kissed and Absalon does so.
As for characterization, the presentation of Alison is filled with details that identify her as some innocent and joyful natural creature — the weasel’s suppleness, the softness of a wether’s wool (a wether is an older lamb), the singing of a swallow on a barn, and so on. The same joyful nature underlies her response to Absalon’s horror after her trick: “‘Tehee!’ quod she, and clapte the wyndow to.” There is such innocent joy in her vulgar trick.
The neatness of the tale goes far beyond the comic inevitability of its plot. In the medieval view, Noah’s flood came about because men had become carnal; they fell into promiscuity and perversion. The same sins bring on the comic catastrophe in The Miller’s Tale. Again, in The Miller’s Tale, each character’s vocation is comically relevant. Carpentry is relevant first because it justifies old John’s building the tubs (arks) and, second, because the carpenters’ guild normally staged the Noah plays in the medieval mystery cycles. Furthermore, the carpenter’s name, John, refers to the Apocalypse (or revelations) of St. John.
