Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by
Geoffrey Chaucer
CONTENTS
Using the Workbook....................................................................... 1
'The Canterbury Tales' .................................................................... 2
Chaucer's Life and Character.......................................................... 4
Chaucer The Man ........................................................................ 7
Reading Chaucer............................................................................. 8
Portrait of the Merchant from the 'General Prologue'
to the Canterbury Tales................................................................... 12
Portrait of The Merchant from the Prologue to 'The
Merchant's Tale' .......................... ................................................... 13
'The Merchant's Tale' - line by line................................................. 14
The Theme of Marriage in The Canterbury Tales.......................... 29
The Conventions of Medieval Courtly Love ................................ 32
Januarie's Character ....................................................................... 34
The Poetry of The Merchants Tale ............................................ 37
Chaucer's Sources .......................................................................... 40
Examination and Revision Questions............................................. 43
NOTE:
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Boccaccio,
detail of a
fresco by
Andrea del
Castagno (c.
1421-57)
Dante contributed to the intense reverence for all things holy which
underlies all Chaucers shrewdness and humour; and Chaucer almost
certainly took the very idea for the Canterbury Tales, of which 'The
Merchants Tale' forms an integral part, from Boccaccios
Decameron. But, with his usual genius for building on his sources of
ideas, Chaucer draws his characters from all classes while Boccaccio's
come only from one class. Moreover, Chaucer has his characters on a
pilgrimage to Canterbury, each telling a story to while away the time
taken for this journey, and this allows for the introduction of the main
characters and incidents on the way. This gives scope for much more
variety, and for keeping more closely in touch with actual life, than is
possible in the Decameron.
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CHAUCER
BACKGROUND
His Life
Born c1340
Childhood
Not a lot is known about Chaucer and it has to be pointed out that, The
biography of Chaucer is built upon doubts and thrives upon
perplexities, but, nevertheless, there is enough known to provide a
useful series of benchmarks.
His date of birth provides a first 'doubt' but is generally agreed to be
1340.
He was born in London to John Chaucer and his wife Agnes. His father
was a vintner, and Chaucer certainly has a close knowledge of the wine
trade, as is frequently evidenced in the Canterbury Tales particularly in
the Pardoners warning:
Now kepe yow fro the white and fro the rede, (276-284)
And namely fro the white wyn of Lepe,
That is to selle in Fisshstrete or in Chepe,
This wyn of Spaigne crepeth subtilly
In othere wines, growinge faste by,
Of which ther riseth swich fumositee
That whan a man hath dronken draughtes thre,
And weneth that he be at hoom in Chepe,
He is in Spaigne, right at the toune of Lepe..
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Education
Chaucer appears
in royal accounts
There is little evidence about his education but it is very probable that he
became attached to the Court. The reign of Edward III witnessed a
marked increase in the prosperity of the merchant class and there was
nothing surprising in making a vintners son one of the household of
Elizabeth, wife of the Kings son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence in 1357.
Also, in 1357 royal accounts reveal that Geoffrey Chaucer was
provided with a paltok (cloak), a pair of red and black breeches and a
pair of shoes valued at three shillings. The Tales give abundant proof
that their author had a keen eye for the niceties of dress and fashion, as
witnessed in his description of the Pardoner
Him thoughte he rood al of the newe jet;
Dischevelee, save his cappe, he rood al bare.
In 1359 he served in the French Wars and was taken prisoner. He was
freed in 1360, Edward III paying 16 towards his ransom - he must
have been considered a person of some note at court for this to happen.
Influence of
French poetry
Becomes valet in
King's Chamber
Probably married
c1366
Its probable that Chaucer married Philippa, one of the 'damsels' of the
Queens Chamber c1366. Her sister was the wife of John of Gaunt, one
of Chaucers patrons. Attempts have been made to show that the
marriage was unhappy. But the 'shrewish wife' was a stock comic
convention of the medieval world, and, very much a man of his time,
Chaucer was quite prepared to use this convention in several of his
tales. Both the Merchant, and the Host himself, suffered from such
wives.
1368 - Esquire to
Royal Household
1370 - abroad
1372 - 73 in Italy
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1374 Controller of
Customs and moves
into house in
Aldgate
1375 - Wardship
Peace missions
1382 - Controller
of Petty Customs
1386 Enters
Parliament
1387 Loses
Controllership and
wife dies
1389 Back in favour Gloucester falls in 1389 and Chaucer is once more in favour. He
becomes Clerk of the Works to the King, which gives him charge of
the fabric of the Tower, Westminster Palace, Windsor Castle and other
royal residences. In 1390 he was entrusted with the repairing of St
Georges Chapel, Windsor.
1391- Loses
position
He loses the position of Clerk to the Works in 1391 and suffers all the
indignities inherent on having money problems. These continued up to
his death.
Henry IV grants
him a pension
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Chaucer, portrait
miniature painted after
the poet's death.
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Reading Chaucer
READING CHAUCER
The reading of Chaucer is an easier task than it appears at first sight. It
is not written in a foreign language, it is written in English and
therefore it is incorrect to talk about translating Chaucer; this
language is simply our own language as it was spoken and written six
hundred years, or so, ago. Over the centuries Chaucers Middle
English, as it is called, has simply evolved and developed into the
modern English used today. In fact, much of what Chaucer wrote
remains quite easily recognisable for the careful modern reader.
Why read Chaucer?
Students frequently ask, Why read Chaucer with his difficult Middle
English, when there is a wealth of modern English to be read and
studied? To realise Chaucers unique importance it is necessary to
understand the following:
(1)
(2)
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Reading Chaucer
poetry still further towards drama and towards the art of the
novel.
(3)
(Lines 5 - 6)
For this purpose it has to be recognised that the ---e ending of many
words was generally pronounced as in the above example (except
when the succeeding word begins with a vowel).
TASK 1
Here are the first eight lines of the Merchants Prologue, write down in
the box below (or in your file) as much as you can understand of them,
leaving a space for any words that cause you problems.
Weping and wailing, care and oother sorowe
I knowe ynogh, on even and a -morwe,
Quod the Marchant, and so doon other mo
That wedded been. I trowe that it be so
For wel I woot it fareth so with me,
I have a wyf, the worste that may be
For thogh the feend to hire ycoupled were,
She wolde him overmacche, I dar wel swere
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(1)
(8)
Reading Chaucer
Whatever you wrote you would have to agree that much of Chaucers
original 'English' is already familiar if you consider it at a leisurely
pace. As confidence grows and you become more willing to apply a
modern word order you will find it easier to handle Chaucers English.
With help from a colleague, or your tutor if needs be, and using the
box below, try to put lines 1 - 8 of the Merchants Prologue into good
modern English.
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Reading Chaucer
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The tone has been set for the Prologue and Tale which follows.
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Lines 1 - 32
TASK 3
Read the Prologue to The Merchants Tale and make notes in the box
below on the nature of the Merchants marriage, and his attitude
towards marriage as a result.
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(39)
(The word seculeer is a crux, i.e. a mystery, which has been the cause
of much discussion amongst Chaucerian scholars, but its generally
accepted as meaning layman)
that he will cultivate his soul under the guise of feeding his bodily lusts
by getting married
Were it for hoolinesse or for dotage,
I kan nat say ...
(41-42)
(52-53)
(54)
In the box below, give four examples of the use of irony from these
lines.
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Lines 55 to 185
These lines constitute a long digression in which Januarie extols the
virtues of marriage.
TASK 5
Having read the digression give your own view in the Box as to who
actually says these lines, the Merchant or Januarie?
In the next box make a list of these as they appear in this digression.
A wife will give him an heir and happiness impossible for young
bachelors who have often peyne and wo. Ironic indeed, as the only
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(86-87)
And that it is all too easy for a married man to be cuckolded. In his
unseeing arrogance Januarie dismisses such arguments out of hand. He
continues:
'That womman is for mannes helpe ywroght'
(112)
And with an early mention of the biblical story of Adam and Eve
which will have important echoes later in the Garden of Love, he says
that God, seeing man all alone bely-naked, created woman as a
helpmate to man. Man and woman living in harmony
O flessh they been, and o fleesh, as I gesse,
Hath but oon herte, in wele and in distresse.
(123-24)
He goes completely over the top when he echoes The Clerks Tale
A wyf, a Seinte Marie, benedicite
(125)
(132-34)
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(195)
He stresses that his future wife will have to be young in one of the
coarse, but exact and powerful similes which Chaucer uses so tellingly:
.... yong flessh wolde I have ful fain.
Bet is, quod he, a pyk than a pikerel,
And bet than old boef is the tendre veel.
(206-208)
TASK 7
(249-254)
continues over
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In the box below summarise the advice of the two brothers. What does
Januaries response to this advice show us about him?
continues over
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TASK 10
The brothers then depart well aware that Januarie is totally resolved as
to his course of action, he will marry May.
(542)
(555)
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TASK 11
In the box below trace how he does this so successfully in the space of
these twenty-two lines
(595-596)
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(664-65)
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(695)
The irony is complete when Januarie sends May to visit the sick squire
saying he will visit him later.
(739-742)
(746)
Summarise in the box below the steps taken by the stock courtly
lovers, Damyan and May, in order to complete the arrangements for
their adulterous affair.
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(813)
There is little doubt that he really is able to live with style. He has
constructed a love garden which is a conventional adornment of
courtly love poetry. But there are already hints of the dark side of this
garden in the presence of Priapus, the God of gardens, but also of
sexual love, and of Pluto and Proserpina. These pagan gods serve to
comment on the love affairs of the humans in the Tale, for Pluto had
seized and raped Proserpina in Sicily and she has been forced to live
with him in an uneasy marriage from which she escapes for six months
in every year. Moreover, Pluto is often confused with Plutus, the God
of riches, so he is doubly apposite to comment on Januarie and his
affairs. The pagan world is used to comment upon the Christian.
Januarie keeps the only key to the small gate into this garden where he
takes May in order to do:
... thinges whiche that were nat doon abedde,
He in the gardyn parfourned hem and spedde.
(839-40)
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(872)
(883)
Damyan is equally desperate for May. The only way they can
correspond with each other is by signs as Januarie:
... hadde an hand upon hire everemo.
(891)
TASK 14
In the next box trace how he does this. Also, briefly comment whether
by creating this sympathy Chaucer succeeds in making Januarie a
much more rounded, flesh and blood character than would otherwise
have been the case.
continues over
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In the box below trace briefly the connections between their lives and
those of the humans in the Tale.
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(2)
trace the heavy irony which continues throughout the climax and
which is pointed out in the notes.
Summary
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Use of irony
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(205-206)
(213-214)
(440-442)
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(1101-2)
But the lady Dorigen, totally unlike May, refuses to make him al hool
again, she would prefer to die rather than make love to him, and, in the
end, he has the magnanimity to renounce his claim on her.
But, more important is the agreement concerning their marriage that
Arveragus and Dorigen had made. The courtly and feudal notion of
love and marriage decreed that the man must be the ladys servant
during the courtship period, but would have maistrye once the
marriage had taken place. However, Dorigen and Averagus had
decided, with a truly modern approach to marriage, theirs would be
based on mutual trust and respect and would be a true partnership:
Thus hath she take hir servant and hir lord,
Servant in love, and lord in marriage;
Than was he bothe in lordshipe and servage.
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(792-94)
Conclusions
The group of tales that form the debate on marriage come to a
conclusion with the Franklins contribution, and it is fitting that the last
of the sequence should dispel the cynicism of the Merchant. The core
of the debate has centred on the notion of maistrye, and the
conclusion is that marriage has its greatest chance of success when
neither partner seeks overpowering maistrye over the other. A true
partnership, it is suggested, holds out the best hope for a happy union.
Summarise how the four Tales related to the theme of marriage,
contribute, in their separate but interlinked ways, to the debate on
marriage which Chaucer conducts in The Canterbury Tales.
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(ii)
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(1140-41)
Also within the garden is the image of the Tree; as powerful as any in
the poem. It is the Tree of the fruit of good and evil in which the
serpent took up his abode (in this case Damyan of course); but it is also
an image of Januarie himself. Early in the poem he remarks:
Though I be hoor, I fare as dooth a tree
That blosmeth er that fruit ywoxen bee
(249-50)
(253-54)
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Januaries Character
JANUARIES CHARACTER
Make your own final assessment of Januaries character backing up
your assessment with textual references. Try not to look at the notes
below at this stage.
Having completed your own assessment read the notes on Januarie
below and use them to back up, or augment, your own assessment, as
proves necessary.
It would be quite wrong to reduce Januarie to the abstraction Elde
(old age) since he is one of the poets most complex characters. Its
from him that almost all the ironies of the poem originate (taking
literary irony as, the writer utilising a naive hero, whose invincible
obtuseness leads him to persist in putting an interpretation on affairs
which the reader just as persistently alters or reverses.)
Januarie is indeed a naive hero always unaware of the fullest
implications of what he says. The long speech on marriage at the
opening of the Tale is totally appropriate for him:
And certeinly, as sooth as God is King
To take a wif it is a glorious thing,
And namely whan a man is oold and hoor;
Thanne is a wyf the fruit of his tresor.
Thanne sholde he take a yong wif and a feir.
(55-59)
Does Januarie recognise himself as oold and hoor here? The word
fruit refers the reader forward, all the way to the catastrophe in the
pear tree, while the word tresor brings into the poem the financial
imagery. At every point Januarie sees marriage as a financial contract
and an animal passion but as nothing of greater value.
Januarie in contrast to Damyan and May is indeed flesh and blood. The
reader can sympathise with him as he grows senile, becomes blind, and
is betrayed, but the reader is also repulsed by him because of his
delusion over his sexual prowess when in reality he has to take a whole
range of aphrodisiacs and read a manual De Coitu to show him how
to proceed sexually, and when he feels that all he has to do to save his
soul is marry when the marriage is only based on his sexual appetite.
He acts with unceasing fantasye. He sees himself as a reincarnation
of Paris carrying off his Helen, when he is more properly a fool of an
old husband, a Menelaus. He believes that everything in life has a price
ticket. As soon as he has found his wife he makes ready:
.... every scrit and bond
By which that she was feffed in his lond,
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(485-6)
Januaries Character
(540-2)
(389)
(391-2)
(705-07)
Of course, the fact that this squire is the very man who cuckolds him
can only sharpen the irony which pervades the whole Tale, but also
creates pity for Januarie in the reader.
We can pity him again when his unfaithful wife uses him to crawl on
his back to meet this very squire in the pear tree. It would be difficult
not to empathise with him if not to fully sympathise. He is of the type
of man who never really grows up. Although sixty he still looks for
one thing in a marriage: (although, as has already been noted in the
line by line analysis, there are definite signs, in the love garden
scene, that he is beginning to move towards a more selfless love;
ironically, its too late, May is intent on adultery). He sees likely
marriage partners as through:
.... a mirour, polisshed bright
And sette it in a commune market-place
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(370-71)
Januaries Character
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(620-21)
TASK 17
List, in the box below, four examples of proverbs, which Chaucer uses
in The Merchants Tale (in addition to the example above), which
you found most effective.
and
(526)
(1045)
and the description of the decrepit old man in bed is a perfect example
of his powerful use of the simile which totally captures the blind
foolishness of Januarie who is never able to understand the reality of
any aspect of his lovemaking:
He lulleth hire, he kisseth hire ful oft;
With thikke brustles of his berd unsofte
Lyk to the skin of houndfissh, sharpe as brere
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(611-13)
Illustrate how Chaucers rhyming couplet, and all aspects of his poetry,
were so well adapted to meet the requirements of a verse intended to
be read aloud.
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Chaucers Sources
CHAUCERS SOURCES
The student of today, surrounded with the modern medias obsession
with the new, with dizzying changes of fashion, is often surprised to
learn that the writing of the early poets and dramatists - Shakespeare as
well as Chaucer - had no such obsession. Their audiences were much
more interested in the ways that well-known plots and ideas were used
and re-interpreted.
Its important to know something of Chaucers sources as used in The
Merchants Tale to understand his genius in the use of these. Chaucer
had what amounted to a working library of literature on Love to
provide background for his Tale. Latin books such as Theophrastus
The Golden Book; The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius; and
The Love of God and Consolation by Albertino, provided him with
philosophical observations and epigrams concerning love and
marriage. And three important sources lead back to the incidents in the
narrative itself. But it is important to note that no single source for the
whole Tale has ever been found.
(a) Deschamps
The situation for Januarie making up his mind to marry and
consulting his friends for the purpose can be traced back to the
French poet Deschamps and his poem Mirror of Marriage. This
involves, A man of suitable age, feeling the prompting of certain
inner impulses towards marriage. These impulses induce a
foolish, deceitful .... line of reasoning. But the important
( differences are that Deschamps hero is of suitable age for
bmarriage and that, in the end, he is swayed by reason and not
sexual passion.
(b) Boccaccio
The scene in which Januarie is bedded with May has for its source a
long speech in the story Ameto by Boccaccio, one of Chaucers
main Italian influences, but whereas Boccaccios Agapes, the young
wife, gives a full account of her suffering, May is completely silent
( i.e. Chaucer shows delicacy and restraint in handling this grotesque
incident.
c
)
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Chaucers Sources
But none of these covers much of the ground of this Tale, the variety
and pace of the story, together with much of the detail, are truly and
originally, Chaucerian.
One other Latin work provides more than philosophical observations,
Claudians poem The Rape of Proserpina.
In Claudian ye may the stories rede
(1020)
Conclusion
For Chaucer sources were not merely literary sources. His fundamental
source was the English language itself. The vitality and vividness of
Chaucers human comedy springs from that common source, that
well of English which, later, was Shakespeares also. The characters
of that human comedy are already recognisably English men and
women, members of a community with the characters of later literature
- there are in later English no characters more vivid than these, an
integral and vivid member of this group being Januarie. In fact, The
Merchants Tale as a whole, with its blending of Christian and pagan;
its controlled irony; its powerful imagery; and its subtle inversion of
courtly love traditions in its commentary on marriage is one of
Chaucers masterpieces.
In the end no literary historian can adequately account for Chaucers
art. There is nothing we know of literature and society of the time that
can adequately do so. There is no clearer case of original genius.
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Chaucers Sources
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(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
The Garden of Love, and the events that take place in it,
provides a fitting commentary on the bogus nature of Januarie
and Mays marriage. Discuss.
(7)
(8)
(9)
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