Alisoun, John's wife, Nicholas's lover, and a reputed local
beauty, is the only character in "The Miller's Tale" who goes
apparently unpunished at its conclusion. In her portrait at the
beginning of the tale, the narrator is satirizing a medieval
literary device called a blazon. This is a section of a romance
or short poem in which the poet describes a woman's body by
comparing parts of it with other objects. A typical blazon might
compare a woman's eyes to the stars, her hair to golden flax.
Alisoun's blazon compares the parts of her body to decidedly
less glamorous things: her body is like a weasel's, her song
like a barn-swallow's, her spirit like young colt's. What's up
with all the animal comparisons? The best clue comes with the
last one: she is a "piggesnye [tender chicken]/ for any lord to
leggen in his bede" (160-161). This comparison links Alisoun's
animal nature to sexuality – animals are unable to control their
lust and so, we assume, is Alisoun. Another important aspect of
this blazon is its desc