What is the importance of the description of Alison in...

In â€Å"The Miller’s Tale†, the poet Chaucer depicts the tale of a â€Å"hende† man and his attempt to tempt the â€Å"primerole† Alisoun to commit adultery and therefore render her husband, John a â€Å"cokewold†. The Miller’s Tale is just one story amongst a collection of greater works known collectively as â€Å"The Canterbury Tales†. The placing of this tale is significant becomes it comes directly after the Knight’s Tale revolving around nobility and chivalry and forms a direct contrast due to the fact it is bawdy, lewd and highly inappropriate. The tale is a fabliau, a versified short story designed to make you laugh; concerned usually with sexual or excretory functions. The plot often involves members of the clergy, and is usually in the form of a†¦show more content†¦We are also invited to think of Alison as a sexual being in the line â€Å"upon hir lendes (loins)† We can also infer that Alison is somewh at promiscuous (and therefore John has a right to â€Å"[hold] hire narwe in cage†) because we are told that her shoes were laced on â€Å"hir legges hye† and we would only know that if her skirt was hitched up. Short skirts in those days had connotations with prostitutes, the same as they do today. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The appropriate attitude for a man to take to such a woman (the Miller thinks) is shown by such terms as quot;popelotequot;, quot;primerolequot; and quot;piggesniequot;, for which we can readily find modern equivalents. Alison is suitable as a mistress for quot;any lordquot;; as a wife, she can expect at best to marry a yeoman, â€Å"for any good yeman to wedde†. Among the many other physical details packed into the Millers set-piece description we learn that Alison has delicately-plucked sloe-black eyebrows; that she is tall and erect (â€Å"upright as a bolt†) and that her breath is sweet. Much of the account is taken up with an inventory of her clothes. These seem fairly expensive, but John evidently wishes her to spend on her wardrobe. The clothes are stylish and exaggerate her attractive features. We learn that many garments are of silk, that smock and collar are embroidered, that her apron is