TheMerchant
From Wyclif
Contents |
[edit] The Merchant's Tale
[edit] Prologue
What links do you find between the teller and the tale?
What links this tale to the last one?
How long has the Merchant been married?
Is he therefore entitled to speak with authority?
[edit] The tale
Compare January with Walter.
Why does January want to marry a younger woman?
What does January think of Theophrastus?
What does January think a wife will behave like?
Which other authorities does January cite?
What would be wrong with an old wife?
Do January’s friends counsel him to marry?
Placebo and Justinus: what do their names imply?
How does January choose his bride?
How is she like Griselda?
What does January fear about his chances of going to heaven?
Who is Damian?
How soon after the wedding does he fall for May?
Without being too indelicate, what was the wedding night like?
What would the narrator counsel Damian?
How long does it take January to miss Damian at table?
How does January seek to find out Damian’s story?
What was in the note Damian slipped to May?
What is her "generous" response?
What kind of garden does January have?
What loss does January suffer?
How does that help Damian and May?
What is the key to the fabliau plot?
What does the intervention of the gods yield?
Who wins?
[edit] Texts that echo
Marriage service
Le Roman de la Rose
Song of Songs
Knight’s Tale
[edit] Themes
Marriage (duh)
Stereotypes of women
Eve/Virgin
Lasciviousness
Treachery
Profligacy
…and older men
Jealousy
Unrealistic expectations
Cheapness
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