The Merchant’s Tale (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Type of Work: Narrative
- Genres: Short fiction, Poetry, Frame story, Narrative poetry
The Poem
“The Merchant’s Tale” is the second of two poems in what is most commonly identified as fragment 4 of The Canterbury Tales. Each story-poem in the Tales is told by a different character in a group of pilgrims traveling to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The tales range from high romance to low comedy. “The Merchant’s Tale” is primarily among the latter, though it contains elements of poetry in the genres of courtly romance and homily as well.
Like most of The Canterbury Tales, “The Merchant’s...
[The entire page is 1664 words long]
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