The Merchant's Tale

Use of Variety in The Merchant's Tale   The Merchant's Tale tells the story of an old man searching for a wife and finding one, who is ultimately unfaithful to him. Chaucer uses a variety of elements in the poem to show his knowledge of contemporary interests and his story telling capacity through another figure. Irony flows through the poem, laced with allusions to the Bible. Chaucer's use of his astronomical knowledge not only allows modern day scholars to date events, but also adds another

The Merchant’s Tale Summary 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

Merchants Tale and how Chaucer portrays Irony (1-27) As with a number of the Canterbury tales, the prologue to “The Merchant’s Tale,” is of significant to Chaucer’s ironic and sarcastic comments in the rest of the tale, it sets up the merchant’s views on women, and marriage in particular, as set out in the prologue which allow us to recognise the irony throughout his tale. This allows us to see the way in which the Merchant is telling his tale, for example ‘thilke blissful lyf’ might seem an innocent

In the Merchant's Tale of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, an older knight named January order’s to find a very young wife. January finds a beautiful young woman named May, who soon becomes his wife, despite her not being in love with him. May then falls in love with one of the knight’s squires, Damian. They send notes to each other and keep their love a secret as best as they can. Damian and May finally

the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer states his opinions on many different and controversial topics using the format of tales. His tales include themes of rape, love, betrayal, family and a slight dash of gastric distress. It is often unclear as to where his true opinions reside, and many scholars and historians have debated as to whether or not he was a progressive as he lets on in his stories. However, some patterns align themselves throughout his works. In Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”, Chaucer makes

throughout the past years. Marriages end in cheating and separation frequently, so much that the United States has become accustomed to it, but does it have to be this way? Canterbury Tales is a collection of tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer that were told by traveling pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. The tales are told by people of varying occupations and social status, and focus on different morals, one of the most prevalent being the roles of husbands and wives in marriage. By juxtaposing

Comparing Miller's Tale and Merchant's Tale Alison in the Miller's Tale and May of the Merchant's Tale are similar in several ways. Both are young women who have married men much older than themselves. They both become involved with young, manipulative men. They also conspire to and do cuckold their husbands. This is not what marriage is about and it is demonstrated in both tales. What makes the Miller's Tale bawdy comedy and the Merchant's tale bitter satire is in the characterization. In the

Julie Rowland Mrs. Toppin English IV 10/6/14 Marriage in “The Merchant’s Tale” Early British writing like The Canterbury’s Tale section of “The Merchant’s Tale” written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry, reflect on social values. Much of the tale speaks about a marriage that over flows of vices. Societies vision of how marriages should work, display the vices of holy matrimony. The corruptness of societies views on marriage lead to a loveless marriage. Chaucer reflects on how much

strength of such ties, the alterations made to an original source are very potent cues as to authorial intention. In composing The Canterbury Tales, there is a broad diversity of tales told by a wide range of narrators. This indicates that Chaucer likely used a wide variety of sources. The alterations made by Chaucer to the source material for the Clerk’s Tale, including Boccaccio’s Decameron X, or “The Story of Griselda,” indicate Chaucer’s motive to examine issues such as marriage as was found in

and fewer expectations. In the Canterbury Tales, the men in the stories have unhappy marriages rife with infidelity, cuckolds, and greedy wives. In The Merchant’s Tale and The Wife of Bath’s Tale, Chaucer shows these negative aspects of marriage to advise men to pick their wives carefully, and to treat them with the respect they deserve. The Merchant begins his tale by talking about how “married men live in unhappiness and anxiety” (The Merchant’s Prologue, 16), based on his two month experience