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Attitude to marriage in chaucer
Attitude to marriage in chaucer
Central message of Geoffrey Chaucer's marriage tales
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By any contemporary standards of behavior, Griselda actions are reprehensible; not only does she relinquish all semblances of personal volition, she deserts all duties of maternal guardianship as she forfeits her daughter and son to the--in so far as she knows--murderous intent of her husband. Regardless of what we think of her personal subservience to Walter, the surrendering of her children is a hard point to get around. Even the ever-testing Marquis himself, at his wife's release of their second child says he would have suspected her of malice and hardness of her heart had he not known for sure that she loved her children (IV 687-95). It is little wonder our students, in whom we try to foster a sense of personal responsibility and human sensitivity, initially find Griselda an insipid and morally reprehensible wimp.
But we retrieve patient Griselda for them. Or at least we try. We say "this tale is not about a real woman: look, it is in rhyme royal. That meant something special to Chaucer. The tale's stanzaic form signals a tale of high moral, even religious, sentence; its flat characterization and formulaic epitaphs distance Griselda and Walter from real people." Then bowing toward Petrarch and siding with the Clerk, we say this tale is not about wives' duties to their husbands; it is about the duty of the human soul to God. As Griselda was to the tests inflicted upon her by Walter, so should we be to the adversities visited upon us by God. And so is Griselda redeemed for real women. But is she--really?
If we look very carefully at the language used as Walter frames the rationales for his intent for testing Griselda, we find that it is not for the proving of her pre-marital vow per se that he put her thorough his series of contemptible and humiliating ordeals. True to its title, Petrarch's A Legend of Wifely Obedience and Faith (De Obedientia ac Fide Uxoria Mythologia) clearly and consistantly pictures Walter testing his wife for her fidelity and conjugal love promised before their marriage. Chaucer's Walter, however, more often frames his designs as trials of "sadnesse," "corage," or, ultimately, "wommanheede" (IV 452, 787, 1075). The result is that in the Clerk's tale, Griselda is tested not so much for her marital fidelity as she is for her womanly virtue. And the implications of this may be as frightening as the thought of a mother adandoning her children to the hands of a murderer.
The Merchant's Prologue and Tale presents the darkest side of Chaucer's discussion on marriage. Playing off both the satire of the moral philosopher, the Clerk, and the marital stage set by the Wyf of Bathe, the Merchant comes forth with his angry disgust about his own marital fate. Disillusioned and depraved, the Merchant crafts a tale with a main character who parallels his own prevarication and blind reductionism while he simultaneously tries to validate his own wanton life by selling his belief to the other pilgrims. As both pervert reality through pecuniary evaluations on different levels, however, both are exposed to be blind fools, subject to the very forces that they exert on others. As this reversal happens and the Merchant satirizes Januarie blindness, Chaucer reveals the Merchant's blindness, giving him the very significance that he had spent his whole tale trying to deny.
Prior to the mistress’ change, Frederick Douglas, author of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas (1995) describes her as “a woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings.” (19) This brings us to one of Douglas’ motifs of how slavery can carry a fatal poison that if one possess’ can change their outsight to life. This poison affects some people more then others. For example, if one compares all of Douglas’ slave owners, it is easy to see that those born into a slave holding family are less likely to become as cruel as those marrying into that way of life. Auld did not convert to an evil lifestyle overnight, in fact, she was the key to Frederick Douglas’ education.
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
Women are prizes to be won over in this tale. Competition for women is portrayed throughout the entire story. This competition leads to lies and deceit which overall creates an unstable conflict. But, because of the way of life, the people who don’t lie and deceit still lose out in the end. Therefore, Chaucer teaches us that life isn’t fair and that people don’t always get what they deserve.
Nelson, Marie. "Biheste is Dette: Marriage promises in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales." 2001. Dept. of English, Wentworth University. 15 July 2003 <http://www.wentworth.edu/nelson/chaucer>
Ethical Monotheism The word ‘ethical’ as defined by the Chambers Pocket Dictionary means “1. Of or concerning morals, justice or duty. 2. Morally right”.
The dominance of men in the Middle Ages is unethical, irrational, and dangerous; women are given few rights and the opportunity to earn rights is non-existent. The dictates to the dominance is formed by the internal combination of man’s personal desire and religious interference. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tales, the combined perspectives’ on a haughty Pardoner and non-subservient wife is the stronghold of separation in moral roles. The moral roles between men and women are exemplified in the rankings of religious hierarchy for men are at the top and women towards the bottom. Even prestigious women, ones with noble connections, are subservient to men, but contradictorily have religious affiliations. The “Wife of Bath’s Tale” is a perfect example of defying man’s dominance and the “Pardoner’s Tale”, a problematic reasoning of why selfishness connects moreover to the manipulation. The frailties of religious reasoning however, will cause The Pardoner and the Wife of Bath to be separated from society’s morals.
to reach he would have to do it legally, and so he decided to stand
... She first criticizes Hero’s choice of a ruff; then she indirectly denigrates Hero’s wedding gown by contrasting its simplicity with the duchess of Milan’s lavish garment (3.4.14-23); finally, she mocks the prim and proper Hero by making a coarse sexual allusion (3.4.27). When Hero rebukes her, Margaret refuses to be shamed and defends herself: “[ashamed] of what, lady? Of speaking honorably? Is not marriage honorable in a beggar? Is not your lord honorable without marriage? (3.4.28-31). By implying that honor is achieved not through any marriage but through a “good,” socially suitable marriage, Margaret implicitly criticizes the inequality in her society and expresses her desire for a marriage that will not leave her “below stairs” (5.2.10). But she is acutely aware that she has no such marriage prospects as she resentfully watches Hero’s wedding preparations.
In the Middle Ages, the roles of women became less restricted and confined and women became more opinionated and vocal. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight presents Lady Bertilak, the wife of Sir Bertilak, as a woman who seems to possess some supernatural powers who seduces Sir Gawain, and Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale, present women who are determined to have power and gain sovereignty over the men in their lives. The female characters are very openly sensual and honest about their wants and desires. It is true that it is Morgan the Fay who is pulling the strings in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; nevertheless the Gawain poet still gives her a role that empowers her. Alison in The Wife if Bath Prologue represents the voice of feminism and paves the way for a discourse in the relationships between husbands and wives and the role of the woman in society.
In the Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer illustrates the different perspective between men and women on the concept of marriage and love. In The Wife of Bath’s tale, it is shown the woman appreciating marriage and wanting to be able to love a man unconditionally as where in The Miller’s Tale, love isn’t anything, but sex with the man in the story. In accordance with Chaucer, the complication with marriage is that men are consumed by sexual desire and are easily abused by women like The Wife of Bath. As noticed, The Miller’s Tale is all about adultery. “Just like men, the wives have secrets, as does God”, says the Miller. Both have information that the other do not know about that are sacred and better left unsaid.
Throughout the narrative, the text utilizes the conflict over the crisis of cognition, or the very mystery regarding the Marquise’s lack of knowledge surrounding her mysterious pregnancy, as a catalyst for the presentation of the plurality of opinions associated with the Marquise’s current status in society and presumptions to the father’s identity. In itself, this state of cognitive dissonance prevents the Marquise from making any attempts at atoning for her supposed sin, as she herself is unaware of any possible transgressions responsible for her current predicament. In turn, this separation from the truth pushes the marquise to fall into the conviction that the “incomprehensible change[s] in her figure” and “inner sensations” (85) she felt were due to the god of Fantasy or Morpheus or even “one of his attendant dreams,” (74) thereby relinquishing her subconscious from any guilt. However, despite her self-assurance of innocence and desperate pleas at expressing her clear conscience, the marquise becomes subject to external pressures from both her family and society, who come to perc...
As a man fascinated with the role of women during the 14th Century, or most commonly known as the Middle Ages, Chaucer makes conclusive evaluations and remarks concerning how women were viewed during this time period. Determined to show that women were not weak and humble because of the male dominance surrounding them, Chaucer sets out to prove that women were a powerful and strong-willed gender. In order to defend this argument, the following characters and their tales will be examined: Griselda from the Clerk's Tale, and the Wife of Bath, narrator to the Wife of Bath's Tale. Using the role of gender within the genres of the Canterbury Tales, exploring each woman's participation in the outcomes of their tales, and comparing and contrasting these two heroines, we will find out how Chaucer broke the mold on medievalist attitudes toward women.
The beginning of the marriage was peaceful. Then Griselda gave birth to a daughter. It is at this time that Gualtieri begins to “test” Griselda. His tests are actually forms of emotional abuse. He begins by testing Griselda’s obedience by having the child taken away to be raised elsewhere by woman kinfolk. He told Griselda that their daughter was dead, that he had her killed by his subjects. He repeats this same test with the birth of their son a few years later. Griselda, with no words of protest, surrenders both her children to their deaths by their own father, her husband.
Chaucer, in his female pilgrimage thought of women as having an evil-like quality that they always tempt and take from men. They were depicted as untrustworthy, selfish and vain and often like caricatures not like real people at all. Through the faults of both men and women, Chaucer showed what is right and wrong and how one should live. Under the surface, however, lies a jaded look of women in the form that in his writings he seems to crate them as caricatures and show how they cause the downfall of men by sometimes appealing to their desires and other times their fears. Chaucer obviously had very opinionated views of the manners and behaviours of women and expressed it strongly in The Canterbury Tales. In his collection of tales, he portrayed two extremes in his prospect of women. The Wife of Bath represented the extravagant and lusty woman where as the Prioress represented the admirable and devoted followers of church. Chaucer delineated the two characters contrastingly in their appearances, general manners, education and most evidently in their behaviour towards men. Yet, in the midst of disparities, both tales left its readers with an unsolved enigma.