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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page research paper that examines various themes and characteristics that are demonstrated in Chaucer's "Merchant's Tale" from his classic work The Canterbury Tales. The writer addresses marriage, imagery, appearance and reality, as well as other themes. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khmertal.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
story to a specific classification, as it is with other tales. The principal plot entails an aged lover who is deceived and cuckolded by the young wife that he was
foolish to marry in his dotage. The tale is, at least, partially an allegory, a factor that is evident in the assignment of names as the old man is Januarie
(January) and marries a young woman, May. His advisers are Justinus, a righteous man, and Placebo, who is a flatterer. The following examination of "The Merchants Tale" will concentrate on
the various themes that are presented. Marriage Marriage and its meaning are a central focus in this tale, since it is clear after the Merchants prologue that he wishes
to show how women are fickle and marriage is a sorry bargain that will make the man look foolish for indulging in it. However, this tale is much more complex
than indicated by the Merchants overt purpose, or in Januaries gullibility, as Chaucer has Januarie reveal much about his own foibles and misconceptions. At the beginning of the tale, there
is a long speech on marriage: "And certainly, 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 wife the fruit of his tresor" (Chaucer 55-58). At this point, it is not certain that Januarie sees, as certainly the reader do, that
he himself is "oold and hoor" (Hussey 17). However, what the old man makes clear is that he regards marriage as either a financial contract or as an outlet for
animal passion, but as nothing greater than that (Hussey 17). While the old man is betrayed by his young wife, by his own actions, he shows that he not
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