The Merchant's Tale -summary

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John Golding 7C4 English Literature

 ‘Weping and wailing, care and oother sorwe’

 

 The narrator of "The Merchant’s Tale" is introduced as a fashionable businessman, a successful financial expert, and a terribly unhappy husband. Critics have painted him as a disillusioned man full of hatred and contempt because of his unhappy relationship with his wife. Most seem to agree that there is no textual reason to suggest that the Merchant is a cuckold or that his tale is autobiographical; however, some do find evidence that the Merchant does hate women and has a disillusioned view of marriage by connecting his experiences to those of January, the main character in his tale. In order to analyze both characters, it is important to examine perceptions: society’s view of merchants in the fourteenth-century, concepts of medieval marriage, and the individual perceptions of the Merchant and January in regard to marriage, women, and money. Through January’s physical sight in "The Merchant’s Tale", we are introduced to characteristics of the Merchant that he purposefully hides from others; also, we glimpse how sight is central to January’s control over May, his wife, and how the Merchant’s dependence on others’ blindness allows him to maintain his secrecy.

        Thus, the physical act of seeing has been introduced, and will continue as a theme. The pilgrims have yet to see everything about the Merchant, but can assume that by definition, he will acquire things at market value only to sell them for a higher price. The Merchant is not interested in the actual worth of his items, but what they will bring him in return, much like Januarie who "shops" for his bride:

Many fair shap and many a fair visage
Ther passeth thurgh a mirour, polisshed bryght,
And sette it in a commune market-place,
Thanne sholde he se ful many a figure pace
By his mirour (ll. 1577-85.)

        These lines provide textual proof that January is connected to the Merchant since he appraises May before buying her. The connection of teller to tale can be further supported by January’s treatment of May. January’s marriage "arises from and presupposes exchange of property. So in fact did most if not all marriages of the Middle Ages. Januarie has a strictly mercantile interest in May, and he buys her only to spend her for Heaven on earth. The wax impression of a key May gives her lover, Damyan, allows him into her garden unbeknownst to January. He is physically blind to Damyan’s entrance and mentally blind to her adultery. By way of the wax key, May controls who sees her and when. But when January "treats (May) like wax, he is, in effect, trying also to convert her into coin, so as to spend her, the living girl, on his ‘fantasye,’ thus littling her to a thing".. Therefore May is money because she can be bought. When Damyan comes, as it were, to borrow May, just like money, she will be ready to change hands. We further identify the Merchant with Januarie since his perspective is that of a business deal to acquire property. Januarie’s perception of May in the market-place persuaded him to buy her; now that she’s his property, he can physically control her when she is in sight.

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        Part of the Merchant’s hatred for his wife is reflected in January’s blindness to marital responsibility. Januarie’s blindness as the physical counterpart of the ignorance of marriage and of women he has shown all along. It prevents him to the end from seeing the tree in the garden and the knowledge of evil which it represents. And the regaining of his sight wipes out even the alertness to danger, which accompanied the blindness. The audience can interpret that whether or not January’s physical ability of sight is restored, his mental perception cannot be. Like January, the Merchant never truly ...

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