Nicholas’ vocation — scholarship and astrology — neatly fits because it justifies his trick on the carpenter. Astrology, in the strict orthodox view, however, is a heinous sin because it is an attempt to know more than man should know and, therefore, usurps God’s business. Nicholas’ name, like John’s, is also significant. In this tale, Nicholas is the boarder at the carpenter’s house; in the medieval plays, St. Nicholas was the mysterious guest who thwarted the evil intentions of the host and returned good for evil. Nicholas of The Miller’s Tale, however, gives evil for good.
Absalon’s name is that of King David’s beloved and beautiful but disloyal son, and Absalon’s vocation as an incense-swinger is also comically relevant. As noted earlier, Absalon is a man “squeamish of farting,” one who perfumes his breath and person to make himself attractive — the incongruity of a man scenting his breath as a prelude to kissing a woman’s “arse” is comically inappropriate even though it defies analysis.
A popular modern way of approaching or interpreting the story is in terms of eschatology (a concern for heavenly matters and the afterlife) and scatology (a preoccupation with excrement or the obscenities of this world). In general, one of the particular aims or theological struggles of the medieval man was to live through this earthly life of temptations and to survive its pitfalls in the hope of heavenly rewards.
