The Merchant S Tale

The merchant’s tale from The Canterbury Tales may be one of the more versatile tales, as the relationships the merchant holds is common throughout both life and in literature. The tale opens with a prologue, and the merchant’s open objection to marriage. He voiced his anger and said that all married men are morose, and complains about his wife’s qualities. He also said, “‘I have a wife, the worst possible; for though the devil were married to her she would outdo him, I’ll swear… She is a thorough shrew… How well off I’d be if I were only free again’” (Chaucer 224)! Here, the prologue ends and the rest of the story opens up. The story explains that the merchant was a worthy and wealthy knight who lived in Lombardy. He had been single for 60 years, and “had always satisfied his physical desires for women

The Canterbury Tales, begun in 1387 by Geoffrey Chaucer, are written in heroic couplets iambic pentameters, and consist of a series of twenty-four linked tales told by a group of superbly characterized pilgrims ranging from Knight to Plowman. The characters meet at an Inn, in London, before journeying to the shrine of St Thomas a Becket at Canterbury. The Wife of Bath is one of these characters. She bases both her tale and her prologue on marriage and brings humor and intrigue to the tales, as she is lively and very often crudely spoken. Her role as a dominant female contrasts greatly with the others in the tales, like the prim and proper Prioress represents the

The Canterbury Tales is a poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1392. In this poem each character tells four stories, two on the way there and two on the way home, to provide entertainment for the people on the pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. One part of Chaucer’s tales that truly stands out is the character prologue where he introduces all of the characters on the pilgrimage and conveys the narrator’s opinions of them using satire and other literary devices. Of characters that Chaucer’s narrator describes, two are the Parson and the Friar. Both of the characters share similarities in their social status and job position however greatly contrast in morals and character. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses contrasting characteristics to convey an idea that teaches that power does not always lead to corruption.

The Wife of Bath claims that she loved her fifth husband, Jankin, the most. Her love for Jankin was based on 1) his ability to pleasure her sexually, and 2) His abusive and neglectful behavior that made her want him more. The Wife of Bath’s tale radiates independence and dominance, but in the end, the Wife of Bath’s love for her fifth husband is based on his ability to make her submissive. By declaring Jankin her favorite husband, the Wife negates her whole argument about the necessity of superiority in a relationship to make it a happy

In his prologue, the Merchant recounts how he despises being married. He has only been married for two months and he regrets the decision he made because his wife is the worst of all. He takes these negative views of marriage into his tale.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is a fictional book about people who are going to Canterbury to receive the blessings of St. Thomas Becket. The Host suggests that to make a journey pleasant, every member has to tell a story and the person who tells the best story will get free dinner paid by the other members. The Host decides to accompany other members to Canterbury and serves as the judge of the Tale. A relationship is usually seen between a teller of a tale and the tale that he or she decides to share. The Pardoner, The Merchant, and the Wife of Bath use their feelings and experience to teach the lessons in the tale. Merchant has poor and second-rate views on marriage whereas Pardoner commits lot of sins and frauds and Wife of Bath wants womens to have control over their life.

The Canterbury Tales” is a collection of twenty four original stories written by the one and only Geoffrey Chaucer published in seventeen forty eight. Mr. Chaucer’s frame story consists of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to England, also known as the wonderful Canterbury. As you can imagine, the journey to Canterbury is lengthy. The characters decide to kill time by unfolding tales stringing from different layers of society. Within every story holds its’ own wistful meaning. There are lessons embedded in every two stories to and from Canterbury. Especially “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” and “The Pardoner’s Tale”. Told by an evil preacher and a very lustful, beyond used up wife. Now usually preachers have a great reputation. Thought to be all

The critical acclaim for The Canterbury Tales as a whole is matched by the puzzlement over the work’s conclusion, the “Parson’s Tale” and Chaucer’s retraction. By modern standards, it hardly seems the “merry tale” the Parson promises his audience, and after the liveliness of much of the rest of the Tales, it appears to close the work not with a bang, but a whimper.

Women in the medieval times were commonly known as having no power and always looking to men to be the leader in not only the economy, but also in the marriage. The Wife of Bath’s tale and prologue contradict this view in a way like no other. The Wife lived a life completely opposite of what was normal during the medieval time period. She even made the Pardoner doubt whether he should get married, because he feared his wife would control him like the wife of bath’s did her husbands. The Wife of Bath’s prologue included her

Geoffrey Chaucer’s the Merchant’s Tale tells the tale of a husband, a wife, and sexual deceit. A narrative nearly identical to that in Chaucer’s work can be found in the Bible. In the Tale, the Merchant depicts the sexual interactions of men and women, whether between husband and wife (i.e. Januarie and May) or adulterers (i.e. May and Damyan). Similarly, Genesis 2 and 3 of the Bible focus on sexual interactions between husband and wife (i.e.. Adam and Eve) and adulterers (i.e. Eve and the Serpent/tree of knowledge). These similarities are identified through the plot itself; the characters’ names and actions; and various key words along with their respective connotations and etymological backgrounds. These similarities are present

The Merchant responds to his unhappy marriage by describing how marriage is a trap. Even though he has only been married for two months he claims that if his wife was to marry the devil, “[s]he would him overmatch, I dare well swear” (Chaucer 371). His quick confession about his unhappy marriage contrasts greatly to the reserve the Merchant had when speaking of his financial difficulties (Delahoyde). Because of his unhappy marriage, the Merchant intends to tell a story that illustrates how a husband is affected by a wife’s cursedness but claims that the story has no connections to his own life.

Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of The Canterbury Tales, writes these stories to express a variety of themes and lessons. One of these themes is the fidelity or loyalty in marriages during the late thirteen hundreds. Chaucer uses a collection of pilgrims and their tales to portray the main types of marriage during this time. These views are narrowed down to three main types and they are the feminine view, the courtly view, and the common or fabliaux view. These main types are seen in The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, The Franklin’s Tale, and The Miller’s Tale.

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, a set of pilgrims have a story-telling competition while travelling to Canterbury to visit the the shrine of Saint Thomas-a-Becket. The Merchant and the Franklin both participate in this competition. The Merchant’s Tale is a response to a previous tale (The Clerk’s) and inspired by a personal experience. The Franklin’s Tale is a retelling of an older tale. The Merchant is the last person to tell a vulgar tale, dealing with a theme such as lust. The Franklin, who tells his tale after the Merchant, tells a tale that lives up to the chivalric code . Prior to The Merchant’s Tale, the Clerk tells a tale about a wife that is put through a series of tests by her husband. Even with the unnecessary and extremely difficult trials, the wife remains faithful and loyal to her husband. In his prologue, the Merchant says he can relate to the sadness that marriage can bring although he has only been married for two months. The Merchant says that marriage “is a trap” and is asked to further explain his theory. The Merchant’s Tale is about a knight named January, who had lived for sixty years without a wife. He gets married and his squire goes behind his back to have an affair with his new wife. As the tale ends, the Host prays aloud that God will keep him from such a deceitful wife. But he stops himself from telling more stories about his own wife, fearing that one of the pilgrims will tell on him. The Franklin’s Tale is about a knight named Arveragus desires a wife. He marries a young maiden named Dorigen. While her husband is away on a crusade, Dorigen is stressing in his absence. Then Arveragus returns and finds Dorigen extremely distraught. Dorigen then explains everything to him and he says she must keep her promise, even though it hurts him. Dorigen presents herself to Aurelius. However, when Aurelius learns of Arveragus' actions and how he lives up the chivalric code, he cuts off the deal and sends Dorigen back to him. The two tales have similar character structures, a female and two males. The two tales deal with the topic of medieval love, faithfulness and commitment in marriage. It can be argued that Chaucer doesn’t

The Wife of Bath is not an admirable person. She is controlling and very mischievous. She used all her husbands for money and she made all the decisions in the relationship. She manipulated her husbands by making them jealous and blaming them for things they didn’t do.

Lady Catherine’s reaction demonstrates the crucial importance of marriage in the society, but also for women.