The Marriage Group: Precarious Equilibrium.

Author / Editor
Hodge, James L.

Title
The Marriage Group: Precarious Equilibrium.

Published
English Studies 46 (1965): 289-300.

Description
Challenges the putative "simple and even balance" of the Marriage Group in CT, discussing several factors that highlight Chaucer's "purposeful inconclusiveness" in the dramatic interplay among the Tales: 1) MerT and FranT are each an "attack" on the merchant in ShT; 2) the Squire responds pointedly to the "cutting sarcasm" in MerT; and 3) FranT undercuts its own ideals, as does the Host's response to this Tale.

Chaucer Subjects
Merchant and His Tale
Squire and His Tale
Franklin and His Tale
Shipman and His Tale