The Merchant In The Canterbury Tales

The Merchant Vs. a Salesperson

The business world is quite a broad spectrum on one end you have the super successful businesses and on the other end you have hustlers who have their own way of business. One character in the prologue of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is The Merchant. The Merchant is a character who deals with commerce and trade in the marketplace. A salesperson exemplifies a similar job as they deal with commerce and goods within their workplace. The time period of The Canterbury Tales is during the time of feudalism, the class system of medieval times in which The Merchant was a part of. A Salesperson is a modern equivalent and still works within the capitalist system today. Although The Merchant and a salesperson

The Salesperson once again is the modern day equivalent who would be under a mostly capitalist society. The time period between the two is an important factor in their comparison as it changes their way of life and how they do their jobs. In the Prologue of The Canterbury Tales the Merchant was described “With a forking beard, motley dress; high on his horse he sat,” (Chaucer 280-281). The quote tells a lot as the Merchant dressed quite lavish in his dress and rode a horse. The time period definitely signifies this as horses were the common form of transport. His clothing choice of a motley dress also shows how the many would dress for the time of feudalism and to bring in more customers. In a modern day you would see most sales people wear business formal attire to show to their clients that they are professional. A Salesperson would also use a car or public transport such as a bus as their means of transportation since those are the most commonly used. Another example from the prologue of The Canterbury Tales was “In solemn tones, he harped about his increase Of capital,” (Chaucer 285-286). This part is something common for both the Merchant and some salespeople, as they boast about their sales. The time period here pretty much shows that within business people have and will always continue to boast their accomplishments. The time period is a good comparison for the two characters as it shows some major differences in how they do things but also some similarity in their