# January — The Canterbury Tales character guide

> January in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** oldë January, O January, Gan January

**First appearance:** 0033-the-merchant-s-tale

## Snapshot

A sixty-year-old knight who, deaf to his own body's warnings, decides that a young wife will make him happy at last.

## Who they are

January is the aging knight of the Merchant's Tale who, after a lifetime of lechery, resolves to marry and chooses the fresh young May. He rationalizes his desire with scripture and the counsel of friends, mistaking appetite for wisdom even as his own brother warns him against it. His self-deception and jealousy set the stage for a bitter comedy about marriage, blindness, and what a man will refuse to see.

## In the story

### [The Merchant's Tale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/the-merchant-s-tale)

An old knight who marries the young May, blinded by his own desires and ultimately deceived.

### [The Merchant's Tale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/the-tale)

The old knight from Lombardy who marries the young May and later goes blind.

### [The Merchant's Tale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/the-tale)

The merchant's wife, who is beautiful, cunning, and manipulative.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters/january
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters