What is the importance of the description of Alison in the Context of t

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 practical joke carried out for love or revenge and fabliaux are often viewed as a lower class genre. One of the central characters in the poem is that of Alison, a woman who is married to an older man called John the carpenter, â€Å"this carpenter hadde wedded newe a wyf†. Alison's attractions are suggested primarily by animal similes and she is described as radiant â€Å"ful brighter was the shining of hir hewe†. Alison’s beauty cannot be separated from her animation and vitality. This, with a hint of naivety, is suggested by the comparisons to "kide or calf" and (twice) to a colt. Alison is soft as a â€Å"wether's wolle† and her voice is like the swallow's. A supple, sinuous quality of her figure is suggested in the sim...