Plot Summary (OCR A-Level English Literature): Revision Notes
Plot summary
Overview
The Merchant's Prologue and Tale is part of The Canterbury Tales, a major work by Geoffrey Chaucer, a fourteenth-century English poet. This text belongs to the "marriage group" - a collection of tales that explore marriage and relationships. The work is classified as a romantic fabliau, which is a humorous narrative poem that often contains bawdy elements.
The tale mocks the institution of marriage and explores themes of infidelity. A central question runs throughout: do humans have free will, or is their behaviour controlled by fate and divine forces? The poem examines how much personal choice exists within the constraints of marriage.
Central Theme: Free Will vs. Fate
The tension between free will and fate is the tale's core philosophical question. As you study the text, consider whether the characters' actions stem from their own choices or are predetermined by divine intervention. This ambiguity is never fully resolved, reflecting medieval uncertainty about human agency.
Context within The Canterbury Tales
In Chaucer's wider work, pilgrims from various social backgrounds travel together to Canterbury. Their shared goal is to pay homage (respectful tribute) to Thomas Becket, a religious martyr and saint. During their journey, the Host organises a story-telling competition. The Merchant is one of these pilgrims, and when asked to share a tale about marriage, he tells this particular story rather than discussing his own unhappy marriage.
The Frame Narrative Structure
Chaucer uses a sophisticated framing device: the pilgrims' journey provides the outer story, while each pilgrim's tale forms an inner narrative. This structure allows Chaucer to present multiple perspectives on marriage and relationships. The Merchant's choice to tell a tale rather than speak directly about his marriage reveals his mistrust and vulnerability - he fears the other pilgrims might report his complaints to his wife.
This framing device establishes a cynical tone from the start.
The prologue: lines 1213–1244
The Merchant's introduction
The Merchant begins by describing marriage as a source of suffering, bringing "weeping, wailing and sorrow". He has been married for only two months but is already profoundly unhappy. His wife is characterised as a shrew - a term used in medieval literature to describe a woman considered bad-tempered and nagging. The Merchant claims his wife is worse than Satan himself, contrasting her lack of patience with the obedient wife described in an earlier tale.
The Merchant's bitterness is so intense that he suggests even someone who had been stabbed could not tell a sadder story than his own marriage experience. This hyperbolic statement emphasises his misery and sets up the cynical perspective of the tale to follow.
The story begins
When the Host requests that the Merchant share his story, the Merchant agrees but chooses not to discuss his own marriage directly. Instead, he tells a cautionary tale that explores similar themes of marital discord and deception. This narrative choice suggests the Merchant's mistrust - he may fear the other pilgrims would report his complaints to his wife.
The Merchant's tale: lines 1245–2418
Januarie's decision to marry
The tale centres on Januarie, an elderly, wealthy and powerful knight. For sixty years, Januarie has lived as a bachelor, freely indulging his sexual desires with many women. He has been promiscuous, satisfying his "bodily desire" without commitment.
Despite this libertine lifestyle, Januarie suddenly decides he must marry. His motivations are complex:
- He believes it is God's wish that he should marry
- He wants to produce an heir to continue his lineage
- He imagines marriage will create a "paradise" on earth
Januarie's Contradictory Nature
Note the irony in Januarie's character: after sixty years of promiscuity, he suddenly claims religious motivation for marriage. His belief that marriage will create "paradise" is deeply ironic given his controlling nature and the tale's outcome. This contradiction highlights how characters rationalise selfish desires as virtuous intentions.
Conflicting advice
Januarie seeks guidance from two friends who offer contradictory counsel:
- Justinus opposes the marriage, warning Januarie about the risks and reminding him of his poor history with women
- Placebo suggests Januarie should make his own decision without interference
This conflicting advice highlights ongoing medieval debates about marriage. The friends' opposing views foreshadow the problematic nature of Januarie's choice.
Choosing May
After experiencing dreams filled with images of young women, Januarie selects May, a peasant girl under twenty years old. The age gap is extreme and significant. Januarie's reasoning reveals his controlling nature - he believes he can easily mould and manipulate her due to her youth and lower social status. He assumes she will readily provide him with an heir and be completely obedient.
Power Dynamics and Control
Januarie's choice of May reveals his desire for complete control. He deliberately selects someone young and of lower social status, believing these factors will make her submissive. This power imbalance is central to understanding the tale's critique of marriage as an institution that enables male control over women.
Damian's love
Damian, one of Januarie's young squires, falls deeply in love with May. The tale suggests this is not entirely of his own choosing - the goddess Venus has influenced his feelings, introducing the theme of divine intervention versus free will. Damian's love becomes so intense that he falls ill from unrequited longing.
The secret affair begins
Concerned for his loyal servant, Januarie sends May to comfort the sick Damian at his bedside. During this visit, Damian passes May a note declaring his passionate love. May responds by sending her own love letter, and thus begins their secret relationship.
Despite Januarie keeping May under close watch, the lovers manage to conduct their affair through written correspondence. This highlights both their determination and the impossibility of Januarie's attempt to control May completely.
The walled garden
Januarie constructs a private walled garden where he and May can be alone together. This garden carries symbolic weight - it alludes to the Garden of Eden, the biblical paradise. Januarie describes the pleasures they will enjoy there, viewing it as a perfect, controlled space. However, the biblical reference also hints at temptation and the loss of innocence.
Symbolism: The Garden of Eden
The walled garden is one of the tale's most important symbols. Like the Garden of Eden, it represents:
- An attempt to create paradise on earth
- A place of temptation and forbidden knowledge
- The impossibility of maintaining innocence
- The illusion of control over nature and human behaviour
The garden's walls, meant to keep others out and May contained, ultimately become the setting for Januarie's betrayal.
May and Damian plan to use this supposedly secure space for their own purposes. May cleverly produces a wax mould of the garden key, creating a copy for Damian. This act of deception undermines Januarie's illusion of control.
Divine intervention: Januarie's blindness
The Greek god Pluto intervenes by striking Januarie with sudden blindness. This supernatural punishment increases Januarie's vulnerability and paranoia. Rather than granting him freedom from witnessing potential betrayal, the blindness makes him more possessive - he insists May must hold his hand at all times.
The introduction of Greek deities adds another layer to the tale's exploration of fate versus free will. Are the human characters responsible for their actions, or are they merely puppets of divine forces?
The pear tree scene
May arranges to meet Damian in the garden. When she and the blind Januarie enter together, May claims she desires a pear from a tree. She asks her sightless husband to help her climb up to pick the fruit.
The Tree of Knowledge Symbolism
The Tree of Knowledge reference is significant. In Christian tradition, this biblical tree represents the moment Eve succumbed to Satan's temptation, leading to humanity's fall from grace. The symbolism suggests May's loss of innocence, though the tale's treatment is more humorous than moralistic. Consider how Chaucer combines biblical imagery with bawdy humour to critique rather than condemn.
Once in the tree, May and Damian begin a sexual encounter in the branches above Januarie.
The gods debate
The narrative pauses to show Pluto and Proserpina, king and queen of the underworld in Greek mythology, discussing the morality of the humans' behaviour. Their conversation is crucial:
- Pluto sympathises with Januarie and plans to restore his sight so he can witness the betrayal
- Proserpina, furious at Januarie's controlling attitude towards women, decides to help May escape punishment
Divine Intervention and Human Agency
This divine debate distances the human characters from full responsibility for their actions. It reinforces the theme of fate - are May and Januarie simply acting out roles predetermined by the gods? Notice how Proserpina's intervention challenges Pluto's patriarchal sympathy, introducing a gender dimension to the divine realm that mirrors earthly power struggles.
The exposure and deception
Pluto fulfils his promise, suddenly restoring Januarie's sight. When Januarie looks up and sees his wife and Damian together in the tree, he is outraged.
However, Proserpina provides May with a cunning excuse. May tells her husband that his sight must still be imperfect since it has only just been restored. She adds that she was deliberately struggling in the tree with a stranger because she had been told this peculiar action would cure his blindness - she was trying to help him.
Remarkably, Januarie believes her explanation. He strokes her stomach (perhaps implying pregnancy) and they embrace, reconciled.
An ambiguous resolution
The tale ends without clear moral judgment. May and Januarie return to their marriage, but the story provides an ambiguous resolution. The Merchant suggests that unhappy, unfaithful marriages are somehow "fated" between men and women - an inevitability rather than a consequence of individual choices.
The Tale's Ambiguity
Unlike traditional moral tales that clearly punish wrongdoing, this story offers no simple conclusion. Consider what this ambiguity suggests:
- Is the tale criticising May's deception or Januarie's controlling behaviour?
- Does divine intervention absolve human responsibility?
- Is the Merchant suggesting that all marriages are doomed to unhappiness?
This lack of resolution reflects the tale's cynical perspective and invites readers to draw their own conclusions.
This cynical conclusion reflects the Merchant's own bitter view of marriage, established in the Prologue.
The epilogue: lines 2419–2440
The Host's response
The Host responds to the tale with his own complaints about marriage. He disapproves of May's behaviour and prays that God will protect him from women like her. He states that the Merchant's tale proves women are deceitful by nature - a sweeping generalisation that reflects medieval misogynistic attitudes.
Continued mistrust
The Host begins to complain about his own bitter wife but suddenly stops. He suggests he does not trust the men around him, fearing they might report his words to his wife. This mirrors the Merchant's earlier reluctance to discuss his own marriage.
The Circular Structure
Notice how the epilogue returns to themes established in the prologue. Both the Merchant and the Host express bitterness towards their wives but fear speaking openly. This circular structure reinforces the tale's pessimistic view that unhappy marriages are inescapable - the pilgrims remain trapped in the same mindset at the end as at the beginning.
The tale remains unresolved. The Host, trapped in his own unhappy marriage, feels he cannot add anything more to what has been said. This circular ending reinforces the pessimistic view that unhappy marriages are inescapable.
Exam tips
Approaching the Closed Book Examination
Because this is a closed book examination, you will not have the text in front of you. Focus on understanding the key plot points and how they connect to larger themes rather than memorising extensive quotations.
When revising:
- Know the sequence of major events (Januarie's decision, May's choice, the affair, divine intervention, the deception)
- Understand character motivations (why does Januarie marry? Why does May betray him?)
- Identify symbolic elements (the garden, the tree, blindness) and what they represent
- Consider how the frame narrative (Prologue and Epilogue) affects the tale's meaning
- Think about how divine intervention relates to human responsibility
Effective responses integrate precise textual references into discussion rather than simply listing plot events. Consider how each plot element contributes to the work's exploration of marriage, power and deception.
Key Points to Remember:
- The Merchant's Prologue and Tale is part of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, belonging to the "marriage group" of stories that critique marriage as an institution
- The cynical Merchant tells a story rather than discussing his own unhappy marriage, establishing mistrust between the male pilgrims
- Januarie, an elderly promiscuous knight, decides to marry young May to produce an heir, believing he can control and mould her
- Damian, Januarie's squire, falls in love with May due to divine influence, and they begin a secret affair through letters
- The Greek gods Pluto and Proserpina intervene: Pluto blinds Januarie, then restores his sight to reveal the affair; Proserpina helps May deceive Januarie with a false excuse
- The tale ends ambiguously with Januarie believing May's deception, suggesting that unhappy, unfaithful marriages are inevitable or "fated"
- The frame narrative (Prologue and Epilogue) reinforces cynicism about marriage, with both the Merchant and Host expressing bitterness towards their wives but fearing to speak openly
- The central theme explores whether human behaviour stems from free will or is controlled by fate and divine forces