“Courtly Love in the Merchant’s and Franklin’s Tales.”

Holman, C. Hugh. “Courtly Love in the Merchant’s and Franklin’s Tales.” ELH, Vol. 18, No. 4 (1951,) pp 241-252.

Holman addresses how courtly love appears in the Merchant’s and Franklin’s tale. He starts his article by discussing the similarities and differences between the tales, outside of the courtly love issue. After establishing the similarities, he takes on the courtly love issue. He sees the Merchant’s Tale and the Franklin’s Tale as two very different ways of critiquing courtly love. He argues that the Merchant’s Tale shows “ideal” courtly love, and the sorrow and ridiculousness of it. He claims that the Franklin’s Tale shows the happy result of not following the precepts of courtly love. He brings up Troilus & Criseyde, and argues that the Merchant’s and the Franklin’s tale reflect a maturation on Chaucer’s part, by displaying a much more cynical view of courtly love than that expressed in Troilus & Criseyde. This article makes a good point, but it takes a lot longer than necessary to make the point. The author has a tendency to repeat himself, and overdo certain points.

Available on JSTOR.

Hannah Rapp