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May-December relationships
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A May-December relationship is one in which the age difference between the two adults is wide enough to risk social disapproval. Geoffrey Chaucer, the fourteenth century author of The Canterbury Tales described in The Merchant's Tale a courtship and marraige between a very young woman, pursued by a wealthy elderly man. In his original Chaucer named the young maiden simply "May". He named the elderly man "Januarie", but at that time, in some traditions, the new year started in March, not January. Later publishers routinely changed the elderly man's name to "December". Chaucer's friend and contemporary, the poet John Gower, also penned a work, Confessio Amantis, that described a relationship between a very young woman, named simply "May", pursued by a wealthy elderly man, named "December". The issue was explored in depth in a very successful BBC comedy series, May to December. |
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