Compare/Contrast "The Merchant's Tale" and "The Franklin's Tale

Isaac Atayero

Sir. John Campion

Advanced Placement English Language

12/19/11

  In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, a set of pilgrims have a story-telling competition while travelling to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury. The Merchant and the Franklin both participate in this competition by telling their own tales. Unlike The Franklin’s Tale, The Merchant’s Tale is a commentary on the previous tale. The Merchant’s Tale is probably the better of the two because it is inspired from personal experience. The Franklin’s Tale, however, is simply a retelling of an older tale. The Merchant tells the very last ribald tale of all the pilgrims. The Franklin, who tells his tale after the Merchant, tells a rather noble tale. The two tales have similar character structures, a female and two males. The two tales deal with the topic of medieval love, faithfulness and commitment in marriage. The two tales show Chaucer’s versatility as a brilliant writer. The following factors show how similar but yet different the two men and their tales are.

    Prior to The Merchant’s Tale, the Clerk  tells a tale about Griselda, a noble wife, whose husband tests her with a series of gruesome occurrences. Even with the unnecessary and extremely unpleasant tribulations that befall her, the wife “and her patience”(355) remain faithful and  ever loving to her husband. In his prologue, the Merchant says he can relate to the “weeping and wailing...and..sorrow”(356) that marriage can bring although he has only “been wedded...two these months past”(356). The Merchant claims that his wife is such “a shrew”(356) that “ if a fiend were coupled to my wife, she’d overmatch him”(356). The Merchant declares marriage as a “snare”(356) and if you fall into it your life will be filled with nothing but “grief and care”(356).  The Host then tells the Merchant to tell a tale about marriage since he “know so much about the art of marriage”(357). The Merchant then responds “with pleasure”(357) and tells his tale. The Merchant then tells his moderately lewd fabliau about January and his vivacious bride, May.

     The Merchant’s Tale is about a man who has been a bachelor all his life but upon turning sixty decides to get married. January, the main character of the tale, is a self centered nymphomaniac who gets married solely for the pleasure. He gets married for selfish and wrong reasons. These reasons vary from practical ones like wanting someone to take care of him to lewd ones such as wanting a pretty maiden he can sport with at any time. January’s most selfish reason for marrying May is so that he does not go to hell for leaving such a lewd and fun-filled life. May eventually cuckolds January and copulates with young Damien. When January, with the help of Pluto, witnesses her adultery, May with the help of lady Proserpine, comes up with a brilliant excuse and January forgives her.

   The Merchant’s Tale possesses a certain authenticity that The Franklin’s Tale lacks because it is drawn from personal experience. This authenticity in The Merchant’s Tale allows it to be easily  categorized as the better of the two tales. The Merchant’s Tale is more relatable to both the reader and the listener than the Franklin’s recitation of one of the songs “of ...the noble Bretons”(408). The Merchant’s Tale can also be expected of his audience because of his prologue. The Franklin’s Tale can also be expected of the reader but is not in context like the The Merchant’s Tale. Unlike the The Franklin’s Tale, the The Merchant’s Tale is a reflection of the tale told prior to his. This gives the The Merchant’s Tale an element of consistency that the The Franklin’s Tale wants.

       The Franklin’s Tale is also not as good as The Merchant’s Tale because the Franklin is “not a cultivated man”(408) and he possesses “untutored speech”(408). The Franklin even admits that he cannot “give colouring to my words”(409). The lacks of description in The Franklin’s Tale causes it to fall behind the Merchant’s heart felt fabliau. The Franklin, unlike the Merchant, “have no feeling”(409) while telling his tale. This is because neither he nor his audience cannot relate to the tale he is telling. The monotone quality in the tale is the product of an uninspired story teller. The Merchant, who is able to tell from personal experience, tells a brilliant and funny tale. The two tales prove that the personality of the  storyteller affects the quality of the tale.

         The Franklin’s Tale is about a soldier who goes by the name of Arveragus and has to go fight in a battle in order “to seek high deeds of arm and reputation”(411). Arveragus leaves his wife, Dorigen, behind. Dorigen “mourned...and lamented”(411) for her husband’s absence like all “noble  wives will do when inclined”(411). Dorigen  then witnesses some people die because of a set of rocks. Dorigen becomes even more miserable because she feels terrible about the accident. Aurelius, Dorigen’s suitor, attempts many a time to persuade her to marry him. Being the noble wife she is, Dorigen rejects him all these time. Then one day she dares him as a joke, to remove the rocks from the water. And she promised to marry him if he is able to do so. The cunning Aurelius then hires a magician to make the tide rise which causes all the rocks to disappear. Dorigen becomes in distraught when she sees this and explains this to Arveragus when he returns. Arveragus claims Dorigen has to keep her word , he does this because he is a noble knight. Touched by Arveragus’ nobility, Aurelius releases Dorigen and allows her to return to her noble husband.

     The Franklin’s Tale also show the lack of imagination and originality of the Franklin. He says “I remember one...i will render to you as best as i can”(408). It is simply a recitation without any references or coloring. The beauty of The Merchant’s Tale is not only its authenticity but its originality. The Merchant’s bawdy tale seems more thought out unlike The Franklin’s noble tale . For example, the merchant references characters from earlier tales. One of them is May, the main female character who is also a direct inspiration to the Miller’s character Alison. The Miller, one of the pilgrims, tells of a character similar to May both in appearance and behavior. The Merchant’s ability to take all that inspires him and craft it into an intelligent tale definitely puts him ahead of the unlearned Franklin.

     The Merchant’s Tale and The Franklin’s Tale do possess some similar qualities. One of these qualities is the structure of the characters. The Merchant’s Tale consists of January,“a knight one time of good renown”(357), May “a maiden...whose beauty as indeed of great renown”(367) and “a squire called Damian”(371). The Merchant’s Tale revolves around  these three characters. The Franklin also has similar characters in his own tale. In The Franklin’s Tale there is Arveragus, “a knight enthralled to love”(409), Dorigen, Arveragus’ wife who “was among the loveliest under the sun”(409) and Aurelius, Dorigen’s suitor. Although these characters are similar they differ in personality and traits like their tellers.

      The Merchant’s Tale is Chaucer’s last ribald tale in The Canterbury Tales. The Franklin’s Tale is Chaucer’s last tale on lover, relationships and marriage. Chaucer puts so much depth into the creation of the formation of his last tale on love and ribaldry. For example in the The Merchant’s Tale, Chaucer uses the names of the characters to represent their behavior. January is the knight’s name because he is cold and unfruitful like the month. May represents the maiden’s name because she is vibrant and fruitful like the beautiful month of May. The name Damien is assigned to the young student because it means to tame. This is fitting because Damien eventually tames May in the tree. Chaucer also uses the tales to reflect the personality of their tellers as a continuation of his mockery of medieval society. The Merchant, who is an educated man tells a tale consistent with his person. The Franklin, a common landowner, recites a tale that is thoroughly consistent with his character type. Chaucer’ genius in these tales is in the details that make the entirety of both tales pieces worth reading. In The Merchant’s Tale, when Chaucer writes himself into a corner he introduces Pluto and “ lady of his elfin band”(383), two extraneous characters. He does this again in The Franklin’s Tale, when he introduces the magician. These tales further highlight Chaucer’s genius not only as poet but a storyteller. From the Merchant’s sinister tale to the Franklin’s noble tale, Chaucer proves his versatility and amazing imagination.

    The two pilgrims tells these tales to kill time on their way to pay tribute to Saint Thomas Becket, a martyr.The Merchant’s Tale and The Franklin’s Tale although extremely different in themes are both similar in structure. They are testimonies of Geoffrey Chaucer’s genius as a writer and storyteller. Even though The Merchant’s Tale is the better of the two tales it is as consistent with its storyteller as The Franklin’s Tale. The Merchant’s Tale is the more inspired tale of the two. the two tales are great reads and have amazing poetic quality.