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Hello, fellow lovers! In my last post, I shared a review of "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, focusing on my favorite tale from that collection, "The Wife of Bath's Tale." This tale is the most interesting as it explores themes of love, marriage, and equality. The Wife of Bath’s Tale isn't the only interesting tale from this collection. As I mentioned in my last post, The Canterbury Tales by Geoffery Chaucer is a masterpiece, the collection contains lots of amazing and interesting tales. In this post, I'll be sharing my thoughts on The Merchant’s Tale.
The Merchant is also one of the pilgrims traveling alongside Geoffery Chaucer to the Canterbury Cathedral. Note that, the pilgrim’s main purpose of traveling to the Canterbury Cathedral is to pray to St Thomas A Becket- the martyr who died while defending the church. The Merchant is an expert in the exchange of goods and services. It is safe to say that he is a genius in the business world. He is a wealthy man who thinks that there should be sea police. He thinks if there were lots of police on the sea, they would reduce the rate of “sea crimes.” Geoffrey Chaucer confesses that he doesn't know his name. So, throughout the tale, he is referred to as “The Merchant.”
While "The Wife of Bath's Tale" and "The Merchant's Tale" were told by very different narrators/characters from different social and backgrounds they do share some interesting similarities. Both tales explore the nature of love. We should note that the Merchant and The Wife of Bath do not have anything in common when it comes to social status and lifestyle.
The Merchant’s Tale takes readers on a profound exploration of love, the complexities of marriage, infidelity, and the effects of mistakes. The tale revolves around an old Knight named January. January decides to get married because of two reasons. The first reason is so that he would fulfill God’s rule that man must marry. The second reason is so that he would have an heir to inherit his properties. After lots of persuasions from his friend, just in us, not to get married. a January turns a deaf ear to his friend’s advice and gets married to a young lady named May.
January marries May out of lust for s*dual desires and also the desire to fulfill God’s rule. It is not mentioned in the book why May decides to marry January, but it is safe to assume that she agrees to marry him because of his money and properties.
The climax ignites when Damian, A squire in January court, falls in love with May. A squire is an “aspiring knight.” He writes letters to May, confessing his feelings and desires for her. May responds with a letter reciprocating the feelings. I’m sure lots of readers would see this coming, since it was pretty obvious that May married January, not because she loves him, but because of his money.
Things took an interesting turn when May suddenly went blind. To keep his newly wedded wife safe, he insists that May remain by him at her times. They must hold hands everywhere they go. January’s blindness didn’t stop May and Damian, the squire from having an affair.
The interlude introduces two new characters- Pluto and his wife Prosperina. According to Pluto, women are deceitful and self-centered. He promises to restore January’s eyesight when the right time comes. Proserpina on the other hand tales the side of May. She says men are like leeches. She promises to provide May with the right excuse when the time comes.
The narrative finds January and May in the garden. Damian sneaks in to have a “special moment” with May. Note that; January couldn’t see them because he is blind. At this moment, Pluto restores January’s sight. At first he gets angry seeing his wife with the squire, but he becomes calm as soon as Prosperina gives May the perfect excuse: May tells him not to believe his eyes because they are recovering from blindness.
On a scale of 1-10, I give this book a solid 7. It’s an amazing one and I recommend it to all book lovers. I’m a lover of Greek myths and I find books that explore those themes interesting. The Inclusion of Greek gods (Pluto and his wife) in the Merchant’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer makes it an interesting read.
