The Merchant's Tale: Characters (OCR A Level English Literature)

The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale: Characters

Chaucer uses his characters to symbolise various ideas prevalent in his society. He portrays how differences between characters reflect contemporary debates. Therefore it is very useful not only to learn about each character individually, but how they compare and contrast to other characters in the poem.

Characters can be symbolic, representing certain ideas or ideals, so it is essential that you consider:

• societal groups or themes represented by characters 

• how characters are established

• how characters are presented via:

  • actions and motives

  • what they say and think

  • how they interact with others

  • what others say and think about them

  • their physical appearance or description

• how far the characters conform to or subvert stereotypes

• the relationships between characters

Below you will find detailed character profiles of:

Main characters

• The Merchant

• Januarie

• May

• Damian

Other characters

• The Host 

• Justinus

• Placebo

• Pluto

• Proserpina

The Merchant

• In The Merchant’s Prologue, the pilgrims are introduced as characters who represent different groups in society

• The Merchant is a member of the new middle-class, a salesman or merchant:

  • This is evident from the description of his prosperous appearance

  • He has a neat, forked beard and wears a bright cloak, a ''Flemish beaver hat'' and ''daintily buckled boots''

• He is described as an ''expert in dabbling in money-changing''

• However, Chaucer mocks his superficial nature:

  • Despite his arrogant facade, he is in debt: ''This estimable Merchant had set/his wits to work, none knew he was in debt.''

• Although his name is never given, he is described by the narrator (Chaucer) as an ''excellent fellow all the same'' and that he has wit and wisdom

• The Merchant is introduced when the Host mentions marriage

• The Merchant complains he has such a cruel wife she would outmatch Satan

• He is miserable despite being married for only two months

• When asked by the Host to tell them more, he tells an allegorial story instead

• His tale confirms his cynical views towards marriage:

  • His tale details an unfaithful young wife and a blindly arrogant older husband

  • His repetition of the phrase, "love is blynd alday, and may nat see" suggests he perceives ignorance and deceit as inherent in relationships 

Januarie

• Januarie is the old knight in The Merchant’s Tale

• His name is indicative of his old age, implying he is in the winter years of his life

• The sixty-year-old knight is a typical character of Roman comedy, a senex amans:

  • This means Januarie represents a powerful older figure with fallibilities 

• However, his characterisation in this tale can be seen, arguably, as an example of the Bible’s Adam, signifying the first man on Earth:

  • He is the oldest man in the tale

  • He has a wife who is tempted in a garden

• “Januarie” comes from the name of a Roman god, Janus:

  • Janus carries keys which open up the future

  • Janus is both old and young simultaneously

  • Januarie refers to himself as strong as a tree despite his age

  • He also carries the keys to the garden in order to control his marriage

• The old knight is described as lustful and indulgent:

  • He has spent his life pursuing his "appetyte" for women and enjoying “bodily delyt" out of wedlock

  • He says he only wants "yong flessh", declaring that he won't marry a woman over twenty years old 

  • He believes a young woman will be easy to “mould” like “wax”

  • The Merchant implies Januarie sees marriage in sexual terms, as he dreams about young women and he builds a walled garden so that he can enjoy sexual pleasures alone outside

• He is also presented as impulsive and selfish:

  • Now he has reached sixty he decides it is God’s wish he marry and produce an heir

• His attitude to women in the town is presented as ignorant and arrogant:

  • He asks his friends for advice, but decides to disregard Justinus’ advice not to marry or to consider his age when he does

  • The god Pluto blinds him for his ignorance 

  • When his sight is restored and he sees his wife with his squire in the tree, he is easily convinced that his sight is imperfect and that he is mistaken

• Chaucer shows how Januarie’s control is futile against the gods and against human desire:

  • His paranoia over his young wife ironically leads him to become cuckolded 

• The Merchant ends the tale with an ambiguous twist which implies Januarie’s ultimate powerlessness in his marriage

• He shows Januarie’s desperate desire to remain married and produce an heir as he takes May back:

  • The ending implies Januarie will be cuckolded again

  • When he strokes May’s belly, Chaucer raises the question of the legitimacy of Januarie’s heir, perhaps mocking the facade of courtly romance

May

• May is the main female character in The Merchant’s Tale

• Her name signifies youthful innocence and springtime 

• Her youth is emphasised as she is described as “fresshe” and virtuous 

• May comments on imbalanced marriages which are not a result of love:

  • Her marriage to Januarie is decided by Januarie

• The difference in their age is emphasised by the Merchant, foreshadowing the potential problems of their marriage:

  • Justinus warns Januarie to consider his age if he marries, hinting at his inability to satisfy a younger woman 

• Chaucer describes May’s marriage to Januarie, a man over sixty while she is under twenty, as inevitably unsatisfying and thus problematic: 

  • She complains about his virility

  • She falls in love with her husband’s handsome young squire

• May’s secret affair with Damian portrays her as defiant and unfaithful:

  • She deceives Januarie further when she steals the key to the walled garden

  • Ironically, she makes a wax mould of it (as Januarie wished to make of her) and gives it to Damian so they can meet

• The Merchant implies May’s desire for Damian is purely lustful:

  • The encounter is not romantic; instead it is sudden and physical

  • He describes the sexual encounter in crass language: “Gan pullen up the smok, and in he throng.”

• May’s characterisation, especially as she tells Januarie she desires a pear, alludes to Eve, tempted by the devil to eat an apple from the Tree of Knowledge 

• Although her affair is exposed by a trick of the gods, she is also helped by them:

  • In this way her character is both a victim and a survivor of fate as she convinces Januarie he is mistaken about the affair

• When May returns to Januarie’s embrace, the Merchant ends the tale with the implication that she will have more affairs:

  • The Merchant and the Host are deeply critical of May’s infidelity

  • The Host prays God will prevent him meeting a woman like her

Damian

• Damian is Januarie’s young squire, described as handsome and love-struck

• His lustful desire for "fresshe lady May" makes him physically ill

• His characterisation can be seen as a mockery of the grandiose melodrama of courtly romance:

  • He says he can "no lenger … endure" a life without May which leads him to sickness

  • His risky affair with May is described as his decision to enjoy a "lyf in aventure"

• Chaucer suggests Damian is a sly and cunning character, as he slips a note to May when she comes to comfort him:

  • That Januarie has sent her to help him in his ill-health is even more ironic

  • He agrees to meet May in secret, himself deceiving Januarie

• Damian is described with a simile which compares him to an adder: “lyk to the naddre in bosom sly untrewe”

  • This could suggest his character can be interpreted as the serpent in the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden

  • In the Bible, the serpent successfully manages to persuade Eve to be deceitful to God

• The tale ends with Damian still in the tree while May returns to her husband: 

  • The implication is that Damian, and other temptations, still exist 

Other characters

The Host

• The Host is the man who leads the pilgrims on their expedition to Canterbury

• The Host is named as Harry Bailey, sometimes spelled ''Harry Bailly'' 

• Harry Bailey is an innkeeper who makes up a game to keep the pilgrims amused:

  • He offers a free meal in his inn to the pilgrim who tells the best story

• His comments in The Merchant’s Prologue suggest he sees marriage as a burden he is tied to

• He complains about his wife, but his mistrustful attitude prevents him saying too much

• His complaint that wives always find out the truth is a comical yet cynical line which presents him as submissive and victimised by his “shrewish” wife

Justinus

• Januarie's friend, Justinus, is named according to the advice he offers Januarie:

  • He speaks justly, or truthfully

• Justinus says Januarie should not marry, but if he does he should be sensible and humble and admit he would not satisfy a younger woman:

  • This insults the vain Januarie

• Justinus adds that marriage is a serious and long-lasting commitment which entails a great deal of trust 

• Chaucer uses Januarie’s friends to present the idea of good advice and bad advice

• He shows the ease with which Januarie ignores what he does not want to hear through Justinus and foreshadows his problematic marriage with May

Placebo

• Placebo speaks to please others:

  • His name refers a medicine which helps psychologically rather than physically

• He tells Januarie to make up his own mind because he is wise and will know what to do

• Januarie rejects the counsel of Justinus in favour of Placebo's platitudes and praise

• Placebo represents individuals who are sycophantic and self-interested, specifically in the context of a court

Pluto

• Pluto is the god who blinds Januarie for his ignorance

• He restores his sight so that Januarie can see May’s affair

Proserpina

• Prosperina is a goddess, wife of Pluto, who helps May

• She offers May (and all women hereafter, she says) a convincing excuse for her affair