Character overview
The Merchant
Merchants
were viewed as middle class citizens and in the Chaucerian time period the
middle class were rising and become more powerful. This was shown through the
clothes that he was wearing when he was riding his horse. For example in line
272/273 (Upon his heed a Flaundryssh bever hat,
His bootes clasped faire and fetisly) he wore a Flemish beaver hat, and his boots were buckled ‘handsomely and
elegantly’.
The merchant also speaks ‘solemnly’ of his finances and his social status,
so much so that no one knew he was in debt. Chaucer the pilgrim says that he
managed his finances well and that people saw him as a worthy man. But we as a
reader and Chaucer the writer shows us that he couldn’t manage his finances
well as he is in debt, but does this necessarily make him an unworthy man?
The Clerk
The clerk (scholar), is an intelligent man that is studying logic at
Oxford. He
does not have any support and is extremely poor which is evident from his
threadbare short upper coat. He is
also very thin and so is his horse, perhaps because of his lack of money. He
isn’t a materialistic person, and would rather have knowledge and books,
instead of beautiful robes and paintings (lines 295-298).
He is a man of few words and does not speak more than
necessary. But whatever he does say tends to increase moral virtue in the
listeners. The scholarly Clerk religiously prays for the welfare of his friends
and benefactors.
There are no ironic overtones in the Clerk’s portrait
apart from the pun on his being a philosopher and yet being poor. In the Middle
Ages, a philosopher also implied an alchemist who claimed to transform base
metals into silver and gold (line 300). I don’t think Chaucer the writer would
want us to think any differently of the Clerk that Chaucer the pilgrim does, as
he doesn’t denounce the clerks character in his writing.
Links
to other characters
The clerk and the merchant are very similar in the fact
that they do not have to conform to strict rules about who they should be and
how they should act. This contradicts the characters of the monk, prioress and
the knight, as they were expected to be noble, holy and idealistic characters.
Despite the fact they do not have certain rules about what they can do, Chaucer
presents them as pilgrims who should be respected, as they intelligent and
‘well behaved’.
The merchant is similar to the knight as he is interested
in foreign affairs and as it says in line 278-279 he doesn’t want England to be
invaded. He is also a noble man that rides proudly upon his horse (line 272).
The clerk is similar to the yeoman in some ways, as he is
an expert in his field, for the clerk that is knowledge, and for the yeoman
that is weaponry, he is also religious and prays for others, much like the
yeoman idolizes St. Christopher.
Important lines
Chaucer tells us that (283/4) line ‘He was a worthy fellow
all the same; To tell the truth, I do not know his name’ this would suggest
that the merchant acts as if many people would know who he was and pretends to
be worthy, when in actual fact not a lot of people know either who he is or in
fact what he is actually called.
Chaucer tells us that the
Clerk (304) "never spoke a word more than was need", this could
foreshadow his tale in the future and possibly suggest that this will teach us
something moral or ethical
Conclusion
The clerk and the merchant are two very different
characters, and this is evident from the way Chaucer writes about them. They
have different character traits and enjoy different things for example the
merchant cares about how people view him where as the clerk cares about what
people think, not about him but about life. But they are also similar as they
pursue their different passions. Any questions or quotes you would like to
explore?
Prezi - Link to presentation
The Clerk: The Merchant:
