The Canterbury Tales: The Miller's Tale Religion Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
| Quote #1 And all above there lay a gay sautrie, |
It's not likely that Nicholas is singing a holy song out of a true feeling of piety. Instead, he's probably just showing off, which would be more in accord with his character.
| Quote #2 This Nicholas gan mercy for to crye, |
Alisoun's swearing to cheat on her husband by Saint Thomas of Kent emphasizes the audacity of the act. It also foreshadows the moment when religion again plays a role in sexual sin: Absolon's lustful longing for Alisoun when he meets her in the parish church.
| Quote #3 Thanne fil it thus, that to the paryssh chirche, |
The irony of these lines, of course, is that the work Alisoun ends up doing at the parish church is not "Cristes owene werkes," but the captivation of Absolon's attention.
