The Monk and the 'Merchant's Tale': An Aspect of Chaucer's Building Process in the 'Canterbury Tales'

Author / Editor
Garbáty, Thomas Jay.

Title
The Monk and the 'Merchant's Tale': An Aspect of Chaucer's Building Process in the 'Canterbury Tales'

Published
Modern Philology 67 (1969): 18-24.

Description
Argues that the Monk was the original teller of the MerT, a response directed against the ShT as told originally by the Wife of Bath. Discusses puns and implications in the GP description of the Monk to characterize the Monk is an "amorous man," a male "counterpart" to the Prioress (a satiric female type), an appropriate teller of MerT, and an important part of Chaucer's ongoing revision of CT.

Chaucer Subjects
Monk and His Tale
Merchant and His Tale
Wife of Bath and Her Tale
Shipman and His Tale
Prioress and Her Tale
Style and Versification
Canterbury Tales--General