Authorial Responsibility In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

In every book, story, biography, or novel ever written, the author has projected his bias into his writings. Sometimes it can be picked up on immediately and others the reader must search and dig deeper into the work. Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales, is most known for his style of writing that avoids authorial responsibility. He releases his accountability on what topics and values are brought up in his stories. Even with that said, his unavoidable bias comes out in his works, especially the Merchant’s Tale. This allegory tells the story of a twisted marriage with emphasis on the age troupe, physical affection, and infidelity. Throughout the Merchant’s Tale, Chaucer’s bias is revealed as he focuses on January’s attributions and casts the blame solely onto May for their faults.
As the narrator tells the story of …show more content…
The narrator starts by showing the onset of their marriage and the aspects that come along with it. Then, the sins of May are reveled. While telling the events that toke place, he used imagery and descriptive words to form a vivid picture of both characters. Chaucer wanted his audience to feel sympathy for January and disgust towards May. His beliefs and values influenced his work. Chaucer is surrounded with this type of marriage in his life. It was extremely popular and considered traditional as he was writing the Canterbury Tales. Because of that, his biases came out as he was developing his characters. The Merchant’s Tale gives a satisfactory example of how authors always lace favorability and preference into their works because of their beliefs, values, and culture. A bias towards January and intolerance to May, throughout the entirety of his work, exposes Chaucer’s the significances and influences in his life as his was writing the Merchant’s