Medieval modes of marriage often prized women solely for the perceived worth of their bodies. Aristocratic tradition viewed the female body as a commodity, made valuable by its sexual desirability, and, of course, its ability to bear children. This system served to brand women as sexual objects and rob them of agency. In The Merchant’s Tale, Chaucer employs metaphor and diction to portray the sexual objectification of women inherent in the aristocratic marriage system.

The dialogue of Januarie as he describes his criteria for a suitable bride is in the construction of an extended metaphor:

She shal nat passe twenty yeer, certayn;

Oold fissh and yong flessh wolde I have ful fayn.

Bet is, quod he, a pyk than a pykerel,

And bet than old boef is the tendre veel (Lines 1417-1420).

Within this metaphor, Januarie identifies feminine sexuality as an edible object; he directly equates the female body with an assortment of meats, including both “fissh” and “boef.” This metaphor assumes greater significance when viewed in conjunction with the opening three lines of the tale; “And sixty yeer a wyflees man was hee/ And folwed ay his bodily delyt/ On wommen, ther as was his appetyt” (1248-1250.) In these two passages, therefore, Chaucer constructs a figure by which the reader recognizes Januarie’s appetite for the flesh of meat as interchangeable with his appetite for the flesh of women. This figure reveals that Januarie views the female body as a commodity that he will gain control of through marriage. He values women only as sexual objects.  

            The figurative use of animal meat to signify the female body is particularly relevant through Januarie’s use of the word “veel.” In one usage, the word “veal” refers to a calf raised and slaughtered for its meat (OED.) An extension of the metaphor of “woman as food” to this word meaning reveals that medieval women, like calves, are raised exclusively for the physical value of their bodies.

            With this metaphor, Chaucer successfully establishes the fact that Januarie (as well as the whole of medieval society), values only the physicality of women. Because Januarie perceives his wife as an edible commodity, he robs her of her humanity. Throughout The Merchant’s Tale, May possesses little personal agency; she is sadly flat, her characterization reduced solely to her sexuality. Even when she breaks free of her husband’s control, her actions are purely sexual. She engages in an affair with Damyan; “Up to the tree he caste his eyen two/ And saugh that damyan his wyf had dressed/ In swich manere it may nat been expressed” (Lines 360-362).

It is not coincidental that a medieval merchant narrates this tale of women’s sexual objectification. The OED defines a “merchant” as “a person whose occupation is the purchase and sale of goods or commodities for profit.” By constructing his tale as the account of a merchant, Chaucer suggests that medieval marriage modes serve to commodify women and market their sexuality.

            Through diction and the metaphor of “women as consumable commodity” in The Merchant’s Tale, Chaucer demonstrates the ways in which aristocratic, medieval marriage modes sexually objectify women.