Many themes are depicted in "The Merchant's Tale", such as love, marriage, and consequences for bad actions. All of these themes are shown throughout the reading and construct the basis of the tale. The themes ,listed above, foreshadows the ending for analytical readers of this tale.
Marriage:
Marriage is one of the more immense themes that takes place in the tale. The tale begins with a knight ,named January, in which his youth is wearing down while he is rising up in age. He is a knight for christ sake and is still happily un-married, and he takes notice of this when Chaucer states, "To take a wife is a most glorious thing/ Especially if a man is old and hoary/ Then she's the fruit of all his wealth and glory" (Chaucer 357). January, like most honorable figures, wants to pass down his genes to his son , so the legacy of January remains for many generations and generations to come. Unfortunately, while choosing a wife to marry, he ends up picking a very unloyal wife and this leads into the next theme which is consequences for critical mistakes.
Consequences for critical mistakes:
From the last statement above, January basically was not getting any younger and he wanted to wed a wife that pleased him in a variety of different ways. He goes and ask his fellow companions about this decision he is considering upon and Justinus comes in and exclaims,"You're old enough- that's not what i disparage-/ To think before you enter into marriage,/ Especially if your wife is young and fair..." (Chaucer 365). Justinus basically says that January should consider and think about this decision longer, because marriage is not a joke. It is a big deal and it is only right to marry someone you love and care for, not by just choosing a women out of the blue. Another crucial mistake that January does is his description of the girl that he wanted to marry was a very un-intelligent move. As he states, "The woman must on no account be old/ Certainly under twenty, and demure/ Flesh should be young though fish should be mature..." (Chaucer 361). He is going for a very young potential wife and this is a mistake because as a extremely common situation, this woman can be considered a"gold-digger", because you know this under twenty year old is not messing with any broke knights. To conclude, marriage is a very huge decision which should take time and be based off of love and not for desire.
Love:
Love is sprinkled every where in "The Merchant's Tale" and this particular tale shows much more than a lousy love story. The term "love is blind" is thrown around a lot and in this tale, the famous saying came into mind. As January was scouting for possible wives, he happens to come across one and as Chaucer describes, " He banished all the others from his heart/ He chose her on his own authority/ For love is always blind and cannot see.."(Chaucer 366). Love at first sight is phony and is an excuse to love someone only due to their looks. May, the woman he admires, might be the hottest woman on Earth, but she can have a horrible personality. He didn't truly love this woman and she didn't truly love him, it is like a sixth grade relationship that is going to end up failing. He can not see that this "love" he has for this woman is not real and it is metaphorically speaking blind. In the picture presented below it is of a woman and a man hugging and the man has a blindfold on meaning he is blind in a way( the male is January and the female is May). As seen pictured below, hugging is a way of showing love and affection for someone, but it does not mean it is true love. Fake love is an epidemic in this crazed world and nothing can stop it. She could be holding another guy's hand and he will never notice. January and May can be married all they want, but there relationship is outrageous and no true love is being possessed.
Marriage:
Marriage is one of the more immense themes that takes place in the tale. The tale begins with a knight ,named January, in which his youth is wearing down while he is rising up in age. He is a knight for christ sake and is still happily un-married, and he takes notice of this when Chaucer states, "To take a wife is a most glorious thing/ Especially if a man is old and hoary/ Then she's the fruit of all his wealth and glory" (Chaucer 357). January, like most honorable figures, wants to pass down his genes to his son , so the legacy of January remains for many generations and generations to come. Unfortunately, while choosing a wife to marry, he ends up picking a very unloyal wife and this leads into the next theme which is consequences for critical mistakes.
Consequences for critical mistakes:
From the last statement above, January basically was not getting any younger and he wanted to wed a wife that pleased him in a variety of different ways. He goes and ask his fellow companions about this decision he is considering upon and Justinus comes in and exclaims,"You're old enough- that's not what i disparage-/ To think before you enter into marriage,/ Especially if your wife is young and fair..." (Chaucer 365). Justinus basically says that January should consider and think about this decision longer, because marriage is not a joke. It is a big deal and it is only right to marry someone you love and care for, not by just choosing a women out of the blue. Another crucial mistake that January does is his description of the girl that he wanted to marry was a very un-intelligent move. As he states, "The woman must on no account be old/ Certainly under twenty, and demure/ Flesh should be young though fish should be mature..." (Chaucer 361). He is going for a very young potential wife and this is a mistake because as a extremely common situation, this woman can be considered a"gold-digger", because you know this under twenty year old is not messing with any broke knights. To conclude, marriage is a very huge decision which should take time and be based off of love and not for desire.
Love:
Love is sprinkled every where in "The Merchant's Tale" and this particular tale shows much more than a lousy love story. The term "love is blind" is thrown around a lot and in this tale, the famous saying came into mind. As January was scouting for possible wives, he happens to come across one and as Chaucer describes, " He banished all the others from his heart/ He chose her on his own authority/ For love is always blind and cannot see.."(Chaucer 366). Love at first sight is phony and is an excuse to love someone only due to their looks. May, the woman he admires, might be the hottest woman on Earth, but she can have a horrible personality. He didn't truly love this woman and she didn't truly love him, it is like a sixth grade relationship that is going to end up failing. He can not see that this "love" he has for this woman is not real and it is metaphorically speaking blind. In the picture presented below it is of a woman and a man hugging and the man has a blindfold on meaning he is blind in a way( the male is January and the female is May). As seen pictured below, hugging is a way of showing love and affection for someone, but it does not mean it is true love. Fake love is an epidemic in this crazed world and nothing can stop it. She could be holding another guy's hand and he will never notice. January and May can be married all they want, but there relationship is outrageous and no true love is being possessed.
Moral Message:
The overall moral message of "The Merchant's Tale" is that everyone gets their just desserts. May and January married and we pronounced husband and wife, in reality May was more interested in Damian, who was a squire of January. May takes advantage of the fact the January is stricken with blindness and cannot see a soul. She assumes that the coast is clear and has an affair with Damian and all of a sudden January gets his eye sight back and sees his wife cheating on him. This just shows that bad things happen to bad people.
The overall moral message of "The Merchant's Tale" is that everyone gets their just desserts. May and January married and we pronounced husband and wife, in reality May was more interested in Damian, who was a squire of January. May takes advantage of the fact the January is stricken with blindness and cannot see a soul. She assumes that the coast is clear and has an affair with Damian and all of a sudden January gets his eye sight back and sees his wife cheating on him. This just shows that bad things happen to bad people.