Essay on Variety in The Merchants Tale -- The Merchants Tale

Use of Variety in The Merchants Tale The Merchants Tale tells the story of an old valet searching for a wife and finding one, who is ultimately unfaithful to him. Chaucer uses a variety of elements in the poem to show his knowledge of contemporary interests and his story verbalize capacity through another figure. Irony flows through the poem, laced with allusions to the Bible. Chaucers use of his astronomical knowledge not only allows modern day scholars to date events, just also adds another dimension of interest for the contemporary audience and of course, the pilgrims. Januaries discussion of Heaven and Hell leads to the idea of marriage providing a Heaven on Earth. It is express that a wife is a husbands paradis terrestre, and his disport (l. 120), but at the introduction of the idea of a heaven, the reader can begin to contemplate the introduction of a serpent at a later point. Chaucer uses heavy irony as Januarie worries about experiencing his only Heaven on Earth. It bec omes evident that May is anything but his Heaven. Her doings with Damyan in the pear tree is reminiscent of the story of Adam and Eve and the temptation of the apple tree as Damyan has become the serpent in Januaries paradise of wedded bliss. The scriptural allusions that are used in the Tale have the effect of broadening the moral behind the story. By using the irony of the Biblical stories along with the thoughts of Januarie, a contemporary audience would have quickly perceived that there would be trouble with the marriage, as they would have been relatively well poetize on the Bible. The priest at the marriage ceremony bade May be lik Sarra and Rebekke (l.492). While these two figures are held up as examples of holy and virtuous wom... ... the possibility, says Maurice Hussey, that Chaucer knew that St. Damian was the patron saint of medicine, thus giving ironic undertones to the sight-healing excuse for the pear tree tryst. Geoffrey Chaucer used many different aspects of his wide knowledge when writing the Merchants Prologue and Tale. Biblical references and parallels with and inclusions of fabulous characters are evidence of this. The appeal of such references to a medieval audience is extended with the inclusion of detailed and seemingly accurate astronomical minutiae. These details extend another level of information about the characters and their fates, such as the future of the marriage - it having been performed when the planet of war and the planet of love were in conjunction. Around these creative inclusions weaves a line of irony and a use of contemporary views and literature.