Immorality and moral ambiguity are two concepts that will ruin any relationship. In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, he specifically illustrates through the stories of his pilgrims some comical and realistic events that show immorality in the Middle Ages. There are several characters whose stories focus on presenting immorality in their tales. Like that of “The Miller's Tale” and “The Merchant's Tale”. Chaucer uses these tales to show a specific immoral act, which is sexual sin or lust. Chaucer addresses the seven deadly sins in his novel; In the Canterbury Tales, lust can be highlighted in two main tales "The Miller's Tale" and "The Merchant's Tale" which help to show key elements of immorality in the Middle Ages. Marriage is an aspect of medieval society that strives to remain pure and innocent, but when the sin of lust deepens, problems begin to arise. Marriages in the Middle Ages are not very different from modern ones, because they arise from a physical, emotional and mental attraction between two people of the opposite sex. Chaucer demonstrates several circumstances having to do with marriages. Most are comical in nature and illustrate crude sexual humor (Varnam, 1). The first circumstance that Chaucer addresses is a “January and May” relationship. This is a situation where an older man falls in love with a scandalous young girl in "The Merchant's Tale". In this specific case, she deceives him into believing that she is innocent (Rogers 2:385). In “The Merchant's Tale,” January is described as having been single for over sixty years and has reached a point in her life where she wanted to experience the happiness of marriage. January chooses May because of the tempting feelings of...... middle of paper ......n, Islamic and Judaic - from Constantine to Dante: 325-1300 AD vol. 4. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950. 819-844. Print.Parry, Joseph D. "Portraying Female Agency and Responsibility in 'The Miller's Tale' and 'The Merchant's Tale'." Philological quarterly. 80.2(2001): 133+. Literary Resource Center. Network. October 30, 2011. Rogers, Shannon L. All Things Chaucer: An Encyclopedia of the World of Chaucer. vol. 2. Westport: Greenwood, 2007. 385, 288-292. Print.Rogers, Shannon L. All Things Chaucer: An Encyclopedia of the World of Chaucer. vol. 1. Westport: Greenwood, 2007. 107-109. Print.Varnam, Laura. “Chaucer's Fabliaux: Laura Varnam shows that Chaucer's Miller and Merchant tales conform to and transgress expectations of the popular comic genre of Fabliaux.” The English magazine. February 2007: 28+. Literary Resource Center. Network. October 30. 2011.