Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in the late 14th century, presenting several interconnected tales revolving around typical medieval lifestyles, virtues and concerns with many modern parallels. In the Merchant's Prologue, the Merchant's attitude is dictated by disgust for the sacrament of marriage, which he describes as a form of “curse,” ironically overturning the conventional idea of ​​marriage as a blessed sacrament. He implicitly emphasizes that it is nothing more than emotional harm to men, especially with Chaucer's use of the semantic field of desperation - "sorwe", "care", "soore", "wepyng and waylaying" - in so that the reader is absolutely aware of the Merchant's fixed perspective, since only these melancholy emotions will arise from the marriage. Its language contains a regular rhyming meter that is flexible and allows words to flow easily as pilgrims travel to Canterbury. His bitter and held tone brings with it his negative interpretation which is a consequence of disliking his wife, becoming increasingly self-pitying. Having been married for only two months ("month two"), enduring pain during every waking and sleeping period of this period, the merchant is so immersed in his pain that he does not have the strength to tell his story and must tell another. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The powerful opening of the Merchant's Prologue is intended by Chaucer to echo the earlier epilogue of the Clerk's Tale, concluded by the clerk's final comments "and let him worry, and weep, and wring, and lament." The reader immediately assumes that this will constitute a story of personal woes and suffering as the Merchant continues these miserable descriptions of the consequences of marriage which he, similarly to the clerk, perceives as a man "weeping and lamenting", with the use of 'alliteration. quite comically here emphasizing his anguish with the exaggerated and elongated pronunciation of the vowel sounds. This is followed by the reiteration of the pain and sorrow he experiences – “care and oother sowe” – which is then repeated to exaggerate the depth. of the despair into which he has been thrown. Chaucer's main application of these verbs and adjectives is used together as a cumulative list, to increase the possibility of pathos on the part of the pilgrims, who are in reality strangers to him, and thus to describe him as an undeserving victim. He describes his constant suffering as "on even and a-morwe", every evening and every morning, which melodramatically creates images of his perpetual tribulation that lasts eternally and without ceasing. He makes the strong claim that many other married men suffer similarly when he says “and so on other mo/who got married.” This leaves no ambiguity, as it irrefutably establishes the standard of marriage for the entire population of married men. These descriptions leave the reader anticipating the details behind his suffering. His initial presentation of his wife is extremely negative, evident through Chaucer's use of the superlative “worste” when the Merchant claims to have “a wyf.” This may surprise the reader, since the Merchant speaks so harshly of his wife to these unknown pilgrims. He makes the first comparison with his wife to the “feend” (devil) who she would “overwhelm” if she were married to him, because she is much worse than him. Once again, these extreme images developed by the Merchant will disconcert the reader since there are no explanatory details on his behaviors. He later refers to her as a"shrew". Chaucer uses this metaphor to place the merchant's wife in the light of a troublesome rodent animal, which acts violently and brutally when she is not given what she wants. This firmly embodies the contemporary misogynistic perception of women. She makes a second antithesis with the Chancellor's Grisilda, who with her "grete pacience" succeeds in the trials inflicted by her husband so much so that she is considered, by the contemporary public, the ideal wife. Grisilda's exceptional obedience - and the lack of "cureltee" of which his wife shows clear persistent signs - surpasses his wife in every way. The reader may assume that from the Merchant's subtle desire for a wife like Grisilda there is a probability of perfection in the marriage, but the Merchant being so isolated in his desperation does not take this possibility lightly. It is his cruelty that has set his negative outlook on all existing and future marriages. At the beginning of Merchant's Tale she discusses the anti-feminist literature of the period, referring to the author Theofraste who argues that the married woman's sole interest is in spending half the money between herself and her spouse - "she wolfclaime half part al hir lyf" - which reinforces the Merchant's misogynistic view, despite stating that Theofraste may be lying. Chaucer's character then explores the possibility that he is "free" from his marriage when he uses the metaphor of marriage as a trap ("snare"), which strongly suggests that he believes that marriage forcibly encapsulates men in a state of no return and of no prosperity as he would like to be able to succeed when he says "I also discuss you". From this, the reader will not draw any connotations of love from these images created by the Merchant. This clear criticism of marriage raises the question of why he got married in the first place. The Merchant continues to degrade the value of marriage and gives the impression that married men must unite as one in their emotional turmoil, evident through Chaucer's use of inclusive address. when the Merchant says “we married men”. This suggests that he feels more connected to other married men than to his own wife. He makes a direct reference to the Host when he says "A, goode sire Hoost" which effectively highlights to the reader his desperation and pleads towards the Host, or for anyone he can turn to in the midst of his desperation, to pay attention and empathize with his suffering. After claiming to have been married for only two months ("I got married / this month two") the reader might be surprised by this early depression, and perhaps question the sincerity of his testimonies or at least be suspicious. Chaucer portrayed him as an arrogant man who claims to be an expert in marriage based on such limited experience, so the reader may begin to diminish his affection or have doubts towards the Merchant. Chaucer often refers to religion and saints, for example when the Merchant criticizes his wife, he swears the truth "by St. Thomas of Ynde", and from this casual approach to the oath he suggests to the reader a man who has little faith and whose values ​​in religion can be hypothesized. The reader might also assume that the Merchant married his wife solely for religious reasons; contemporary audiences believed that the sacrament of marriage reflected the union between the married and Christ. Marriage, being a crucial element of Catholicism at the time, was necessary to enter heaven. Since there was a strong belief in the afterlife, much prevention was done to ensure peace of mind after death. Therefore the Merchant's intentions for marriage can be considered self-fulfilling, only then would he enter heaven, which is ironic since.