The Merchant's Tale Critics Flashcards
Bartlett
Religious view of women
“All women are equal to Eve and are therefore the Devil’s gateway on earth”
Simmons-O’Neill
Chaucer’s view
“Traditional misogynist view”
Simmons-O’Neill
Women
“Traditional misogynist justification of the view that women are not to be trusted”
Allen
Church and treatment of women
“Anti-feminist teaching emanating from pulpits and manuscripts”
Allen
The importance of the Church
“The Catholic Church was the most highly influential aspect of medieval society”
Damian
Eve
“Eve was Satans bait poison for men’s souls”
Gist
Marriage
“Marriage was an enforced legal contract designed to secure… economic advances”
Bartlett
Marriage
“Strict confines of Christian matrimony”
Bartlett
Courtly love
“infiltrating wider medieval culture”
“Fantasy of the devoted knightly lover”
Allen
World view
“Idealised view of a ‘world order’… [was] never fully achievable”
Bartlett
Love and marriage
“Belief that true love only exists outside of marriage”
Bartlett
Love
“Seeking to gain love against the odds”
Shores
The tale overall
“Cynical condemnation of courtly convention”
Schleusener
“All good feelings Chaucer’s audience might have about love and marriage are demolished”
Tatlock
Religion and marriage
“Religion itself is bemocked”
