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    The Merchant's Tale

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    Janine Andrea Buhain
    The Merchant's Tale tells the story of January, an elderly knight who marries a young woman named May despite his friend's warnings about women's infidelity. January's attendant Damian immediately falls in love with May. When January goes blind, May and Damian begin an affair after exchanging love letters. When January's sight is mysteriously restored, he catches May and Damian in an amorous encounter, but May convinces January that what he saw was just a trick of his newly restored vision. The tale serves as a warning about the deceitfulness of women.

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    The Merchant's Tale

    Uploaded by

    Janine Andrea Buhain
    54 views2 pages
    The Merchant's Tale tells the story of January, an elderly knight who marries a young woman named May despite his friend's warnings about women's infidelity. January's attendant Damian immediately falls in love with May. When January goes blind, May and Damian begin an affair after exchanging love letters. When January's sight is mysteriously restored, he catches May and Damian in an amorous encounter, but May convinces January that what he saw was just a trick of his newly restored vision. The tale serves as a warning about the deceitfulness of women.

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    The Merchant's Tale tells the story of January, an elderly knight who marries a young woman named May despite his friend's warnings about women's infidelity. January's attendant Damian immediately falls in love with May. When January goes blind, May and Damian begin an affair after exchanging love letters. When January's sight is mysteriously restored, he catches May and Damian in an amorous encounter, but May convinces January that what he saw was just a trick of his newly restored vision. The tale serves as a warning about the deceitfulness of women.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    54 views2 pages

    The Merchant's Tale

    Uploaded by

    Janine Andrea Buhain
    The Merchant's Tale tells the story of January, an elderly knight who marries a young woman named May despite his friend's warnings about women's infidelity. January's attendant Damian immediately falls in love with May. When January goes blind, May and Damian begin an affair after exchanging love letters. When January's sight is mysteriously restored, he catches May and Damian in an amorous encounter, but May convinces January that what he saw was just a trick of his newly restored vision. The tale serves as a warning about the deceitfulness of women.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Republic of the Philippines

    CvSU Vision CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY CvSU Mission

    The premier university Cavite City Campus The Cavite State

    in historic Cavite recognized for University shall provide excellent,


    Pulo II, Dalahican, Cavite City, Philippines equitable and relevant educational
    excellence in the development of

    globally competitive and morally upright opportunities in the arts, sciences and

    The Canterbury Tales:


    The Merchant’s Tale

    Summary: The Merchant’s Tale

    In The Merchant's Tale, January, a wealthy, elderly knight, decides to marry. His reasons
    are clear enough: He wants to fulfill God's wish that man and woman marry, and he wants
    a son to inherit his estates. January calls many of his friends together to listen to his plans
    and to offer him advice. His close friend, Justinius, argues against marriage, pointing out
    the unfaithfulness of women. The knight's other friend, Placebo, argues that January
    should make up his own mind. Surveying the young maidens of the country, January
    chooses a beautiful virgin named May.

    One of January's attendants is a handsome youth named Damian, who is immediately


    smitten with love the moment he sees May. His unrequited love is so powerful that he
    becomes physically ill. Because January is partial to this handsome youth, he sends his wife
    and other women to Damian's bedside to comfort him. Damian passes a note to May in
    which he professes his undying love for her. May responds with a note to Damian,
    acknowledging her reciprocal desire. Then January is suddenly stricken blind, and he
    insists that May remain by him at all times; she can go nowhere unless he is holding her
    hand. Nevertheless, May is able to give Damian a wax impression of a key to January's
    secret garden, and she later signals for Damian to climb a pear tree.

    In an interlude, the god Pluto and his wife, Proserpina, discuss the situation involving
    January and May. Pluto admits that he will restore January's sight because women are so
    deceitful, but he wants to wait until just the right moment to do so. His wife, Prosepina,
    says men are so lecherous that she will provide May with a believable excuse when he does.

    Later, May leads January to the pear tree and, pretending she has an insatiable lust for a
    pear, tells her husband to bend over and let her stand on his back. She "went up into the
    tree, and Damian / Pulled up her smock at once and in he thrust" ("Damian / Gan pullen
    up the smok, an in he throng"). At this moment, while the couple is in amorous bliss,
    January's sight is miraculously restored. He looks up and sees the young couple "swyving"
    (having sex), and he bellows with rage, "He swyved thee, I saugh it with myne yen" ("He
    screwed you, I saw it with my own eyes"). Thanks to Proserpina, however, May gives a
    credible excuse: January's sight is faulty — the same as awakening from a deep sleep when
    the eyes are not yet accustomed to the bright light and seeing strange things dimly. She
    then jumps down from the tree, and January clasps her in a fond embrace.

    When the Merchant ends his tale, the Host says he wants to be preserved from women like
    May, but his wife does have a babbling, shrewish tongue and many more vices. He bitterly
    Republic of the Philippines

    CvSU Vision CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY CvSU Mission

    The premier university Cavite City Campus The Cavite State

    in historic Cavite recognized for University shall provide excellent,


    Pulo II, Dalahican, Cavite City, Philippines equitable and relevant educational
    excellence in the development of

    globally competitive and morally upright opportunities in the arts, sciences and

    regrets that he is tied to her for life but hopes no one will mention it because women have
    ways of finding out.

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