The Merchant's Tale is about marriage. January, an old man, loves a woman named May who is much younger than he and also very beautiful. Though he is warned that old men should never marry young wives, January goes ahead and marries May. On their wedding night, January's sexual prowess fails to impress May. When January sends a young man named Damian to comfort May, she falls in love with him instead.
January goes physically blind, but he is also metaphorically blind to the unfaithfulness of his wife. When he finally regains his sight, it is to catch May in the act of adultery! She provides him with a witty explanation that pacifies him. He believes that she is pregnant with his child, and the story ends with no serious consequences for any of the characters. The theme or moral provided at the end of the tale suggests that happiness in marriage only comes with ignorance, or that happiness in marriage is unattainable entirely.
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