# May — The Canterbury Tales character guide

> May in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Maria, Marie

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

## Snapshot

A young bride given to old January in the Merchant's Tale, whose beauty becomes the prize in a contest of husbands, kinsmen, and would-be lovers.

## Who they are

May is the fresh, marriageable woman whom the aging knight January chooses for his wife, over the objections of his brother Placebo and Justinus. She is expected to be grateful, fertile, and blind to her husband's jealous possessiveness, and the tale watches how a young woman in that position might bend the rules. Her choices drive the tale's sharpest comedy about marriage, secrecy, and who really holds the keys to the garden.

## In the story

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

The young wife of January who conspires with Damian to cuckold her husband.

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

The young wife of January who falls in love with Damian and deceives her husband.

## Links

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