MERCHANT'S TALE KEY PLOT & CONTEXT Flashcards
Give 3 descriptions that best describe the MERCHANT?
He travels and trades internationally
He has a fashionable beard
He talks a lot about his trade and success
Give 3 descriptions that best describe JANUARY?
He is over sixty years old.
He is wealthy.
He lives in Lombardy, Italy.
Give 2 descriptions that best describe MAY?
She is relatively poor
She is physically attractive.
Give 2 descriptions that best describe DAMYAN?
He is January’s servant.
January believes him to be loyal and trustworthy.
T/F
January’s friends agree he should get married.
F
T/F?
The wedding is focused on the spiritual union of January and May
F
T/F?
May praises January’s love-making on the wedding night
F
T/F?
Damyan falls in love with May at first sight
T
T/F?
May initially rejects Damyan’s advances
F
T/F?
Damyan arranges a plan to meet May in the garden
F
T/F?
Pluto turns January blind.
F
T/F?
Damyan gets into the garden by hiding in it overnight
F
T/F?
May lies outright to January when caught.
T
T/F?
January and May return home together at the end.
T
When was ‘The Canterbury Tales’ written?
Late 14th Century
T/F?
Medieval society was based around a largely feudal hierarchy
T
T/F?
Knights were in the Third Estate.
F
T/F?
Merchants were in the Second Estate.
F
T/F?
England had just emerged as victorious in its war with France when ‘The Merchant’s Tale’ was written.
F
T/F?
The Black Death had yet to hit England when ‘The Merchant’s Tale’ was written
F
T/F?
There are some examples of influential female writers in this period.
T
T/F?
Women had few legal rights, largely defined by their relationships to men.
T
T/F?
Galen said people should only have sex if they are trying to have a baby.
F
T/F?
Second marriages were not allowed.
F
T/F?
Chaucer was connected to the royal courts.
T
What is the ‘senex amans’ of the fabliau?
A foolish, gullible old man.
