Money, Sexuality, Wordplay, and Context in the 'Shipman's Tale'

Author / Editor
Hahn, Thomas.

Title
Money, Sexuality, Wordplay, and Context in the 'Shipman's Tale'

Published
Julian N. Wasserman and Robert J. Blanch, eds. Chaucer in the Eighties (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1986), pp. 235-49.

Description
Textual evidence and historical information suggest that the Merchant of ShT is a money changer involved in usury. Usury was a sin equivalent to adultery. Love of money was more than simple "cupiditas"; because of his usury, the Merchant's wife owes him no allegiance.

Alternative Title
Chaucer in the Eighties.

Chaucer Subjects
Shipman and His Tale.