Summary and Analysis of The Shipmans Tale (The...

Summary and Analysis of The Shipmans Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Introduction to the Shipmans Tale: The Host asks the priest to tell a tale, but the Shipman interrupts, insisting that he will tell the next tale. He says that he will not tell a tale of physics or law or philosophy, but rather a more modest story. The Shipmans Tale: A merchant at St. Denis foolishly took a desirable woman for a wife who drained his income by demanding clothes and other fine array to make her appear even more beautiful. Since his wife demanded so many costs, the merchant was forced to take in guests; one of these was a monk. John, a young monk no older than thirty, claimed to be the cousin of this merchant, and when he did stay with them he†¦show more content†¦Before he leaves, John asks the merchant for one hundred francs so that he can buy cattle. When he gives the wife the one hundred francs, she repays John by engaging in an affair with him. Later, when Dan John and the merchant meet, he tells the merchant that he repaid his debt to him when he gave the wife one hundred francs. The merchant therefore scolds his wife when he gets home, telling her that she must be careful when others give her money to repay debts, for he needs to take accurate measure of who owes her what. The wife realizes the monks trick, but remai ns silent. She instead tells the merchant that she is his wife and will repay her debt to him in bed. Analysis The overriding concern of the Shipmans Tale is money and its relationship with sex. The story uses terms relating to business and monetary transactions in reference to all of the sexual dealings of this story, and money is found to be virtually interchangeable with sex. The wife agrees to have an affair with Dan John as a business transaction, and she claims at the end that she will repay her debt to her husband in bed. The story never stoops to condemn the wife for her actions by finding them the equivalent of prostitution, but merely constructs the parallels between sex and business as a natural and normative fact. Chaucer illustrates the parallels through a series of double entendres, such as the wifes order to her husband to score [her debt]Show MoreRelated Summary and Analysis of The Man of Laws Tale Essay1913 Words   |  8 PagesSummary and Analysis of The Man of Laws Tale Fragment II The Words of the Host to the Company and Prologue to the Man of Laws Tale: The host speaks to the rest of the travelers, telling them that they can regain lost property but not lost time. The host suggests that the lawyer tell the next tale, and he agrees to do so, for he does not intend to break his promises. He says that we ought to keep the laws we give to others. He even refers to Chaucer, who works ignorantly and writes poorly