Nicholas and Absolon Essay Example for Free

Nicholas and Absolon Essay To what extent are Nicholas and Absolon courtly lovers? Nicholas and Absolon both execute elements of the courtly love tradition, though the elements they express differ from each other and from the ideal courtly lover. Both Nicholas and Absolon attempt to use the language of the courtly lover to win Alison. When Nicholas attempts to seduce Alison into sleeping with him, he declares For deerne love of thee, lemman, I spille. At first glance this may appear to be the elevated language of courtly love, with Nicholas revealing to Alison that he loves her so much that if she were to reject him, he would die. Upon closer inspection, however, we notice that his term of affection for Alison is lemman which was often used in medieval times in a sexual context. Furthermore, the word spille can mean to die, though its cruder meaning (and the meaning more fitting with Nicholas physical treatment of Alison in this section) is to ejaculate. Here, the overall impression that Nicholas gives is that he uses the language of courtly love to cloak his dishonourable intentions. Absolon uses the language of courtly love in a different way. He utilises more romantic terms of endearment than Nicholas, such as hony-comb, faire brid and sweete cinamome and at the same time, unknowingly, uses highly unromantic imagery to describe himself. He tells Alison for youre love I swete, creating a very unappealing image of himself sweating for her love. He then proceeds to use many more unappealing images. He declares I moorne as dooth a lamb after the tete, likening himself to a helpless lamb, an emasculating concept, and that he may nat ete na moore than a maide, this time likening himself to a woman. Absolons misuse of the language of courtly love makes him all the more ridiculous, and his affected manner means that the reader has little sympathy for him. Perhaps a lot of Nicholas success in wooing Alison is that he woos secretly, as a traditional courtly lover would. Discretion is paramount, as Alison warns Nicholas that their lovemaking must be privee else if John found out he would kill her. Nicholas, in order to ensure that their lovemaking is secret, formulates an elaborate plan. This highlights his intellect and his cunning, and also reminds the reader of the description of Nicholas at the beginning of the tale, in which he is revealed to known much of deerne love and solas he is experienced in the ways of secret love. Absolon does little to secretly woo Alison. When Absolon sings and plays his guitar beneath Alisons window, he does not take care to do it at a time when John is away. Moreover, John is awoken by Absolons singing before Alison. The fact that John, a jealous husband, does not consider Absolon to be any threat to him is revealing of how others perceive Absolon. He is viewed as ineffectual and harmless. Absolon and Nicholas both use music in their wooing of Alison. Nicholas uses his sautrie to make a-nightes melodie. The next references to melody are when Alison has promised Nicholas that she will sleep with him Nicholas playethe faste, and maketh melodie and when Nicholas and Alison enjoy the revel and the melodie of their lovemaking. In this case, Nicholas music-making is symbolic of his skill and cunning as a lover. In contrast, Absolon plays music on a smal rubible and sings with a loud quinible. The fact that Absolons instrument is described as smal makes it seem unimpressive in comparison to Nicholas gay sautrie. His loud, high-pitched voice is effeminate, the ridiculousness of which is highlighted by the comic rhyme of rubible and quinible.