Common Sources: Andreas Vesalius and The Merchant's Tale

As discussed earlier, gothic texts often have common sources based in medieval texts upon which gothic writers build their narratives for their contemporary audience. In addition to creating a fictional tale around the historical Andreas Vesalius, Petrus Borel's "Andreas Vesalius the Anatomist" reflects a common narrative featured in several medieval texts, including Chaucer's "The Merchant's Tale."

In Chaucer's version, an old and wealthy knight named Januarie marries a young bride, May, and Januarie is ultimately made a cuckold by her and his squire, Damyan. Januarie loses his sight not long after the marriage and driven mad with suspicion keeps May close to him at all times. However, she and her lover find a moment alone in a pear tree where the blind Janurie waits below for his fair wife to descend. While he waits, Januarie miraculously recovers his sight and sees May and Damyan having sex in the tree, but the cunning May is able to convince him that the gods promised they would restore Januarie's sight if she committed the adulterous act.

Chaucer, like Borel, describes a laughable and somewhat grotesque wedding night between the married couple:

"With thikke brustles of his berd unsofte,
Lyk to the skyn of houndfyysh, sharp as brere...
He rubbeth hire aboute hir tendre face,
And seyde thus, "Allas! I moot trespace
To yow, my spouse, and yow greetly offende...
The slakke skyn aboute his nekke shaketh
Whil that he sang, so chaunteth he and craketh.
But God woot what that May thoughte in hir herte,
Whan she hym saugh up sittynge in his sherte,
In his nyght-cappe, and with his nekke lene;
She preyseth nat his pleyyng worth a bene." (Chaucer, ll. 1824-1854)

Chaucer's tale is ultimately more comical than tragic, as the blind husband finds his sight restored and May and Damyan find pleasure but avoid punsihment. How does this compare to Borel's version? How does he take this comical source and turn it into the tragic gothic?