"I have a wyf, the worste that may be" - The representation of marriage in the Canterbury Tales

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 66 (A-), University of Warwick (Department of English), course: Medieval to Renaissance English Literature, 7 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: "I have a wyf, the worste that may be," says the merchant in his prologue of Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales (E.1218). However, in the beginning of the Franklin's Tale, the
narrating voice speaks of "the joye, the ese, and the prosperitee / That is bitwixe an
housbonde and his wyf" (F.804-05). This example shows how little unanimity there is
among the characters of the Canterbury Tales when it comes to marriage, be they the
pilgrims or be they the characters within the pilgrims' tales. The aim of the present
paper is to show the various ways in which Chaucer represents marriage in the
Canterbury Tales. I will refer to The Miller's Prologue and Tale, The Wife of Bath's
Prologue and Tale, The Merchant's Prologue and Tale and to The Franklin's Tale. The
first three chosen tales show marriage in a deformed shape, as a relationship over which
predominance of one sex over the other and / or a strong economic interest are hovering
and lead to unpleasant incidences. The fourth tale depicts wedlock as an ideal kind of
marriage, a state of mutual connectedness in which values like patience, fidelity,
generosity and nobility can be explored (lecture). I will support those claims with an
analysis of the tales taken each by its own. I will also examine them as interrelated
elements of what is considered a "marriage debate" (Hussey 135). According to this
theory, the Franklin's Tale is seen as the solution and final element of a debate which
begins with the Wife of Bath and runs through The Clerk's Tale and The Merchant's
Tale.