Marriage and Women in the Merchant's Prologue of Canterbury Tales

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Marriage and Women in the Merchant's Prologue of Canterbury Tales

'The Merchant's Tale' is part of the Canterbury Tales, a collection of

stories loosely linked together. Through these poems Chaucer provides

an insight into the attitudes, weaknesses, virtues and preoccupation

of English men and women of the Fourteenth Century.

Chaucer imagines a group of pilgrims, setting off from the Tabard Inn

on a journey from London to the shrine of St Thomas Becket in

Canterbury. In order to pass time, the pilgrims tell each other

stories; in this case we are told 'The Merchant's Tale'.

From reading and discussing the first part of 'The Merchant's Tale',

this essay will explore the narrators concerns of marriage and women,

and attempt to explain their contextual relevance.

To begin with I will discuss the values of marriage and the social

status of women during the Fourteenth Century. Conventional attitudes

to the institution of marriage were regarded as a mercantile

transaction and the consolidation of title, land and money was of

great importance among the wealthy and noble status. Furthermore

marriage was rarely undertaken for love, and could take place under

force agreement if money was involved.

Marriage was considered a sacrament of the church that mirrored the

union of Christ and Christ's church; it was deemed an important

practice of the Christian religion during this period. Subsequently

through this ceremony women gained the status of domestic animals

characterised by unquestionable obedience to male command. This era

had demanding expectations of women which echoed the misogynistic.

Before the audience are introduced to th...

... middle of paper ...

...f the Knight who begins

with a long eulogy in praise of marriage; as the Merchant is himself

unhappily married which is quite ironic. The narrative of the Knight

seems to entail two ideals; one is a naively exaggerated description

the ideal state of holy matrimony for the good of the soul. The other

is a darker and more selfish concept of marriage as providing great

convenience for an ageing lecher. His wife should be obedient and give

him joy; and nurse him when ill as well as be the mother to his heir.

Chaucer effectively outlines the traditional values and

characteristics of women and marriage, through these two characters.

It could be argued that the character of the Merchant is used to

depict some of the dangers that may occur from 'new women' emerging in

society, those that are bold and outspoken like his wife.

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