The Shipman's Tale

The Shipman's Tale

Plot summary

The Monk-Sir JhonSir Jhon is a thirty year old,handsome monkHe is the merchant's best friend .He is very amicable as all the servants in the merchant's home admire him as he is very generous to them .He's in love with the merchant's wife.

Character Biographies

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

The Shipman's Tale takes place at St. Denis , England, during the 1300'The story incorporates tree main characters , a merchant, the merchant's wife and their friend Sir Jhon who is a monk.

A monk who is best friends with a merchant is in love with his wife The wife is unsatisfied in her marriage and offers the monk pleasure if he can pay her 100 francs The monk gets this money from the merchant and the monk gives her the money The monk then tells the merchant he gave the money he owed to his wife The wife defends herself saying she thought it was for her so she spent it all on herself The merchant forgives his wife and the wife agrees to pay it back in bed

The merchant- The ShipmanThe merchant is very dedicated business man . He's more in love with his work than he is with his wife and often neglect her .The merchant is very close to the monk and loves him like a brother.

The wifeThe wife is mostly described as being very beatiful.She believes that her husband should provide her with many luxuries.Since e does not, she's determinated to have him do so by any means necessary.

The main conflict of the story is that the merchant is abusive to his wife, wich drives her to cheat on him with his best friend, the monk.The main conflict is interest is taking, borrowing and stealing money.