The Merchant's Tale

Question 1

In what year was Chaucer’s ransom payed and how much was it?

Answer 1

In 1360 the king contributed to Chaucer’s ransom of £16.

Question 2

What did the year 1362 signify in for the throne and the English language?

Answer 2

It was the first year that the throne opened parliament by delivering a speech in English, first time they had done this.
Showed the decline in the importance of the French language

Question 3

Who spoke Latin in Chaucer’s time?

Answer 3

Scholars and learned people

Question 4

Who spoke French in Chaucer’s time?

Answer 4

Spoken in the royal court and by high society, middle and upper classes.

Question 5

Who spoke English in Chaucer’s time?

Answer 5

Spoken by everyone , everyday, common language

Question 6

How many pilgrims set off in the Canterbury tales?

Answer 6

29 pilgrims

Question 7

How are the tales ordered/ recounted ?

Answer 7

Depending on their status in society .

Eg the knight tells his take first as he’s the highest ranking in society.

Question 8

What would have informed Chaucer on the Merchant Class?

Answer 8

His father having been a wine merchant

And the fact that in 14th century trade was an essential of daily life in London, he was also in charge of the wool trade for 12 years in 1374

Question 9

How is the merchant described in the general prologue ?

Answer 9

He has a forked beard and a beaver hat.

He’s elegantly dressed but the narrator reveals that he this is a facade and that he is in debt

Question 10

In what press was ‘The works of Geoffrey Chaucer now newly imprinted’ in 1896? And by who?

Answer 10

The Kelmscott Press by William Morris.

Question 11

What was special about the Kelmscott edition of the Canterbury Tales?

Answer 11

Set a benchmark for book design in the 19th century, including illustrations and rich decorative borders.

Question 12

How many Kelmscott editions of the Canterbury Tales were sold in 1896?

Answer 12

486 were sold in a variety of finishes including in vellum and white pigs skin with silver clasps.

Question 13

Where is the merchants tale set?

Answer 13

Pavia, Lombardy

Question 14

How does January describe the bond of marriage ?

Answer 14

“Wedlock is so esy and clene, that in this world it is a paradis “

Question 15

What kind of a knight is January described as ?

Answer 15

“A worthy knight “

Question 16

How is the quotation “in which he lived in greet prosperitee” an example of irony?

Answer 16

Both January and the merchant are described as very wealthy however we find out this is a facade for the merchant and he is in debt. Ironic as the characters seem similar but aren’t

Question 17

How is the quotation ‘this old knight, that was so wis’ an example of irony?

Answer 17

At the age of 60 January is extremely old, for the time, and it is suggested that he is senile ‘dotage ‘ and that’s why he’s marrying. Is he wise in his old age or mad ?

Question 18

How does the Merchant’s character depend on the theme of appearance and reality?

Answer 18

We can see his attractive dress and middle class wealth although we cannot see the process of his trades and so he depend on the the audience’s acceptance of him being a wise trader , affecting out judgement/ trust of him.

Question 19

How does Bowden use context to suggest there is an impermanence to the Merchant’s wealth?

Answer 19

The pilgrims would question whether the Merchant was as honest as his clothes portrayed as !er hangs im the later Middle Ages enjoyed a social position which was tacitly and impermanently held exceeded some nobles

Question 20

How was January’s marriage to May normal for Middle Ages marriages?

Answer 20

Shoaf- says the marriage ‘arises form and presupposes exchange of property’, just like all marriages in the Middle Ages.

Question 21

How does Thomas Aquinas theory summarise the objectification of May ?

Answer 21

January treats May like momey and Aquinas says ‘anything whose price can be measured in money is deemed to be money’.
May is money as January bought her before they married. She became ‘feffed in his lond’.