Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Merchant's - Literary Traditions - Coggle Diagram
Merchant's - Literary Traditions
Courtly Love
literary tradition that usually involved a woman of a higher social standing, who is either married with a different knight vying for her attention and love, or is being persued by two knights
Damyan is a tool used for the courtly love plot, as May is a 'gentil woman' and Damyan is a 'gentil squier'
this is exemplified when, after the consummation of May and Damyan, the merchant narrator does not mention Damyan again, as his purpose has been fulfilled
Damyan further follows the expectations of a courtly lover as he is sickened with love for May
in this way, Holman's view is amplified, that Damyan is
'so perfect an illustration of the courtly love lover that he loses individuality'.
Damyan is merely used as a tool to facilitate courtly love
Damyan is not a courtly lover
Damyan's love is sparked by the goddess Venus,'Damyan in Venus fyr' suggesting that it is not organic or natural. 'fyr' also connotes a hurt or violence, as the love is not pure
Furthermore, he does not use grand romantic gestures to show his love, as a true courtly lover would
rather, he sends a letter which May flushes down the toilet, showcasing how the courtly love genre has been satirised
Moreover,
'idyllic gardens were the settings for narratives of courtly love' (Dunlop)
, such as in the Romance of the Rose, a French text that Chaucer partly translated as one of his first literary endeavours
However, the setting of the garden subverts expectations, as it is not the setting of romance. Rather it has a
'carnal atmosphere' (Brown)
, which is amplified by the presence of Priapus
Moreover, the consummation of Damyan and May's courtly love is described with lewd words 'in he throng' which undermines their 'love' and debases it to lust
'Damyan's haste emphasises the falsity of his pretensions as a lover' (Burnley).
He is not a true courtly lover, he is instead driven by lust, and tempts May into the same fate
this explains the similarity of his name to 'Demon' as he is an evil element in the Tale
Fabliau
the literary convention that suggested an old man - a 'senex amans' - who married a younger woman was inevitability going to be cheated on, as the younger woman had sex with a younger man
January insists that his wife 'shall nat pass twenty year, certayn'. HIs emphatic use of 'shal' and 'certain' amplify his authoritarian nature
this, when compounded with the age difference, establishes the downfall of their marriage, in line with the fabliaux convention
furthermore, the age difference is amplified by their satirical nomenclature, as January connotes a wintery importance and May a springtime freshness.
this represents 'opposite kinds of seasonal image' (Brown)
In the end, the fabliaux plot is realised, as Damyan and May consummate their love/lust
'January believes he is inhabiting a romance which is bitterly exposed as a fabliaux' (Martin)
January regains his physical sight at the end, but remains symbolically blind to the fabliaux plot, with the motif of blindness remaining consistent
'love is blind alday, and may nat see' as January wishes to preserve the 'love' that he has, instead of accepting he has been cuckolded
The Fabliaux plot is very present in the Tale, yet is ignored by January, showcasing how he wishes to remain blind to what is before him, he chooses not to see.