Compaer and Contrast (Merchant & Knight)

The whole theme of the Canterbury tales is intriguing. The theme mostly consist of betrayal, deceit and hatred towards one another. But in particular to the story, the Merchant and miller focus on love and how it can make thy blind, both literally and figuratively. The Merchant tells a tale of an old knight from Lombardy who had'nt been married yet. But when the knight had turned sixty, he decided to finally be married. He searched for wives, now convinced that being married was a paradise . Yet his brother, advised of the scholar Theophrastus, who advised men never to wed, for servants show more diligence and do not claim nearly as much. To this the knight retorted with Biblical stories that state a man without a wife is bent on ruin. These stories cites the creation of Eve for Adam as proof that a wife is man's support, as well as examples of humble and devoted wives. January, wished to have a young wife of no older than thirty, for a young wife would be more pliable, but Placebo warned him that it takes great courage for such an aged man to take a young wife. He warned him of the misery that can come from taking a wife, for she could be shrewish or a drunkard, facts that a husband will not learn until well into the marriage. Despite the common opinion that Placebo has a wonderful wife, he knows what faults she has. They argue about the merits of marriage, with Placebo predicting that January will not please his wife for more than three years, but Placebo eventually assents to January's plan. January finally decided to take a young and pretty wife, foolishly believing that nobody would find fault with his choice. He spoke to Placebo and his friends about his choice, praising his intended wife. January, however, worries that a man who finds perfect happiness on earth as he would with his wife would never find a similar happiness in heaven, for one must choose between one perfect happiness and another. Justin countered by stating that it is more likely that married men will get to heaven than single men. He muses that marriage might be January's purgatory. Now the Knight,The Knight tells a tale of courtship and chivalry, focused on the deeds of soldiers and princes, the social milieu in which the Knight travels. Even the structure of the tale obeys the structure and hierarchy within society. The Knight does not start with the main characters of the tale, Artimus and Palamon; instead, he begins at the apex of society, describing the exploits of Theseus of Athens, working downward until he reaches the less distinguished Than soldiers. Now the similarities that i find are that, they both thought that love was a grand thing and believed that every man should have a wife, but were later on proven wrong. But the difference is that, The Merchant grew lonesome and hatred toward the idea of love and didn't think being married was worth anytime at all, and that their better off alone.