The Merchant's Tale Flashcards
Who is the Merchant and what does he think of marriage?
The merchant is a character in the Canterbury tales who tells his own tale about marriage?
List the order of tale-telling in order.
Chaucher (the poet), Chaucer (the narrator), Pilgrims, Harry Bailey, Merchant, Merchant’s Narrator, January, Placebo, Theophrastus
What is authorial intrusion?
Where the biases, views and opinions intrude on
Synecdoche
Use one part to represent a whole
Sycophant
Hyperbolic person who sucks up to someone
Patriarchy
The social structure of men ‘on top’ and in charge.
Commodification
Likening a thing or person to a commodity, something with commercial value. It is a rather materialistic view.
Mercantile Imagery
Using descriptive language which has connotations to merchants, sale of products and transactions.
Who was St. Jerome?
A man who shaped Christian belief in the Middle Ages. Who forbid intercourse, fraternisation and caving to any religious sins.
Who was Theophrastus
An ancient Greek philosopher who believed men should not take a wife as she could not be trusted with his goods.
Who said they’d rather be eaten by dogs than have an old wife?
January
Who believes his wife could outwit the devil with her evil?
Merchant
How long has the Merchant been married to his wife?
2 Months
What makes the Merchant’s tale ironic?
He (or Chaucer) is using January’s hypocrisy as comedy when in fact he has similar views to him. The difference is that the Merchant ‘has’ a wife.
What make January hypocritical?
He is preaching his specifically harsh demands for a wife but does not practice the same. After all his protesting about the right wife for him, he still doesn’t ‘have’ one.
