What social class was the merchant in the Canterbury Tales?

What social class was the merchant in the Canterbury Tales?

middle class
The mercantile class included merchants who lived in the cities and represented a new middle class in England. Characters such as The Cook, Merchant, Reeve, Shipman, and Wife of Bath would have been part of this new emerging class.

What does the merchant symbolize in the Canterbury Tales?

Status. The Merchant is a wealth fur and clothing trader. He is a wealthy man and is at the top of the society ladder unlike many others. His business has treated him well and given him a good and easy life where he wants for very little.

Why is social class important in the Canterbury Tales?

Why is social class important in the Canterbury Tales? Social class was the foundation of everyday life during the Middle Ages. Chivalry dealt with loyalty honor, and service to women on and off the battle field’ (“The Medieval Period: 1066-1485” 76).

How does Chaucer criticize the merchant?

Chaucer juxtaposes the Merchant’s view of marriage in ‘The Merchant’s Prologue’ and his view of marriage in ‘The Merchant’s Tale’. This clever juxtaposition of opposing views portrays the Merchant as a lying, deceitful and cruel character.

What is ironic about the merchant in Canterbury Tales?

In medieval England, to be in debt was a sign of weak morals. So when Chaucer tells us that the Merchant was a “worthy man withal,” we can probably take that a bit ironically. In the Merchant’s Prologue, we learn that he is unhappily married to a shrewish woman who could win a fight against the devil.

What class is a merchant?

Coming from the ashes of feudalism, which was a system in which most people were peasants who lived on the land and worked as farmers, while a few people at the top were the nobility, the merchant class in the Renaissance was a powerful class of people who earned their money, not from owning or working the land, but …

What were the social classes in Mesopotamia?

These classes were: The King and Nobility, The Priests and Priestesses, The Upper Class, the Lower Class, and The Slaves.