“Beneath the surface of this entertaining and bawdy tale we find a serious examination of
obligation and loyalty.” Explore this view of The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale
The theme of obligation and loyalty seems present in both May’s obligation to be a good wife and
to be loyal to her husband, as through the lack of loyalty that Damian has despite being one of
January’s most trusted squires. During this period, obligation and loyalty would have been
important due to the use of the estate system, upon which this hierarchical society is based. As
January is a rich, wealthy man of high status, his knights would have had obligation to him, and the
perception of women, nothing more than the property of man and thought of as inferior, would have
created the belief for a contemporary audience that May has obligation to her husband, both to
provide sexual pleasure and an heir.
The first appearance of Damian in the tale describes his intentions towards May, immediately
changing our perception of this so called ‘trusted’ squire and showing him to be cunning and
deceiving, plotting to steal his master’s wife for himself, “se how thy Damyan […] entendeth for to
do thee vileynye” The fact the word ‘vileynye’ is used shows an intention to do evil and to
purposefully break the loyalty he has. Perhaps this could be reference to the fall of man in the
Garden of Eden in which Adam and Eve break their loyalty to God by committing the first sin. A
comedic aspect is also created by Chaucer through the theme of blindness. To an audience, it
would be immediately obvious what Damian’s intentions were and the actions of May and Damian
are not subtle, however January’s metaphorical blindness means he is unable to see what is going
on, and his own perception of loyalty is distorted believing Damian is doing no harm, “He is a gentil
squier, by my trouthe”, the quote showing January’s firm belief in Damian as someone trustworthy.
The mixture of January’s blindness to Damian’s actions and Damian’s lack of loyalty to his master
portrays January as a weak willed, senile old man, nothing like the God Janus on which Chaucer
based his character. Janus is the God of keys and gates, creating a parallel with the gated garden
from the tale, but critic David Birchmore stated that “after all his careful attempts to construct the
garden, January can’t even manage to keep out his own squire.” highlighting the ease in which
Damian was able to break his loyalty and fool his master, and the lack of power that January has
over him, despite his social position.
Furthermore, we have the main idea of May’s loyalty as a wife to January, through which comedy
is created through the parody of courtly love and her affair with Damian. A courtly love affair was
usually between a nobleman and his lover, in which he performs great deeds for her. This is
parodied by Chaucer in the tale as Damian is not a nobleman and their relationship is purely based
on lust. When May receives a love letter from Damian, “she rente it al to cloutes atte laste, And in
the privee softely it caste”, contrasting with the romantic idea of a love letter, again creating a
parody as she reads the letter in the ‘privee’, perhaps demonstrating the earthly, carnal nature of
their relationship, all whilst she feigns loyalty to January. However, in contrast, May never
demonstrates any attempt to leave January, staying beside him when he is struck blind and going
back to him after her encounter with Damian, perhaps demonstrating a different kind of loyalty, one
not centred around love, such as a societal obligation due to her position as a young woman.
On top of this, May also has an obligation to January to provide him with an heir. However, a
marxist interpretation may argue that May’s loyalty to staying with January and trying to avoid
conceiving could be due to economic factors. As January is in his old age and on the “pittes brinke”
it shows a likelihood that he will die soon, and if he doesn’t have an heir, May will receive all his
heritage to herself. Therefore, some may say May is aware of the economic benefits of being a
widow and loyalty is what will bring her this reward. After their wedding night May locks herself
away for four days “fourthe day compleet fro noon to noon” perhaps demonstrating her upset at the
fact that she might conceive and fulfil her obligation as a wife, however the fact that January reads
from ‘Decoitu’ and “he drinketh ypocras, claree and vernage” suggests his impotence and would
have been comedic to a contemporary audience, perhaps suggesting that May is only creating this
facade of ‘loyalty’ to reap the monetary benefits. However, she breaks this loyalty and risks fulfilling
her obligation of giving January an heir when she sleeps with Damian, her lustful nature being her
downfall. One critic says May is “impetuous and impulsive, not calculated and deliberative”
, perhaps showing she's willing to risk everything, as whether she becomes pregnant or not is
ambiguous.
Overall, the theme of obligation and loyalty is hidden by Chaucer “beneath the surface of this
entertaining and bawdy tale” through the use of comedy and things such as contemporary
economical factors. It is shown through Damian’s lack of loyalty towards his master on the basis of
a parodied courtly love, through May and her affair with Damian but with her loyalty towards
staying by his side when he is blinded, and through her unwanted obligation to give January an
heir, but also through January’s lack of perception towards those who are supposed to be loyal.
