Weak or Strong Women? Geoffrey Chaucer has an interesting view on women’s roles in life. Through his tales he shows his differentiation in how he feels women are in life. He stays true to his time and the oppression of women that was happening, but he adds a twist. In The Canterbury Tales he shows women being weak and at the mercy of the men in their lives on one hand, and on the other hand the women are in control and their men are at their will. Chaucer has the theme of women obeying their husbands in several tales, one of which being The Franklin’s Tale. Dorigen is faced with the horrible choice of cheating or honoring a promise, she does not wish to honor her promise because she loves her husband. However Dorigen’s husband tells …show more content…
Chaucer shows how when united through marriage women take their husbands as “servant[s] in love and lord[s] in their marriage[s]”, they have the power through their love and virtue but the men control many of the decisions (line 65). One woman Chaucer shows with a surplus of power over men is the Wife of Bath. The Wife used her sexuality to control the men in her life, she made certain that they were at her mercy. The Wife used mind games to influence her men as well, she abused them mentally until they could do nothing else. Chaucer shows the Wife as this all powerful woman who only desires control, a woman who in marriage “had [has] them wholly in my [her] hand”, they are her pawns in a game (line 211). Chaucer portrays the Wife who can make grown and independent men do as she wishes. She does so through mind games and using her sexuality as a weapon. One such case where she uses a mind game would be when she makes him feel guilty for making her think he is cheating, she desires new clothing so she says, “She's honoured over all where'er she goes” then proceeding to accuse him of loving her ( line 237). The Wife knows exactly how to get power and control and she does not hesitate to do so. Chaucer shows both Dorigen and the Wife as women who have control in their marriage, and the Wife as a woman who has complete power over
The claim presented in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” argues that a woman who is free to make her own decisions will reward her husband with a happy marriage. The first hint of the concept of women being dominant begins when the knight is faced with death for raping a woman. Typically this is an automatic death sentence in the kingdom, but the Queen changed the King’s mind so she was put in power over the knight’s life. As stated in the book “he granted him his life on the spot,/and gave him to the queen, completely at her will,/to choose whether she would save or destroy him” (Page 339, lines 40-43). Already at this point the idea of the women having dominion over men is being hinted at, where she has complete control even over his life. In order to save his life the knight was told by the Queen to find what all women want in life, a great...
Next, is what can be seen as the other extreme of the spectrum of marriage. That is the Wife of Bath's Tale. This tale favors the argument that the wife should have complete control in the marriage. An interesting thing about the Wife of Bath's tale is that her arguments, in the prologue, for having control...
With the Wife of Bath's five different husbands and the search of a new one, she didn't only know what she wanted but how to get it, she did this through ways of being controlling and selfish, but still, came out succeeding at the end of her relationships. The Wife of Bath, with her simple words of the five men she had been with, it was easily detailed with what mattered to her "they were good, and rich, and old, they were scarcely able to keep the statute by which they were bound to me" (p. 191). This is an explaination of exactly what she wanted and how she was able to be continue to be stable. Her unbelieveable control for the husbands she had, in which she thought they would be her "debtor and slave" (p. 189). Chaucer is expressing the sexual, as well as, the controlling side of the Wife of Bath, this also shows the unrealistic expectations she brought forth. At last, she tells exactly how she feels "you should speak thus and put them in the wrong, for no man can perjure himself and lie half so boldly as a woman can" (p. 193). Convicing her husbands ...
Chaucer believes that it is in men's best interest to give women dominance over them. "When she saw her time, upon a day: 'Thou standest yet,' she said, 'in such condition, That of thy life yet thou hast no assurance I grant thee life, if thou canst tell me What thing it is that women most desire" (Chaucer, lines 901-905). This illustrates how the queen exerts her dominance when the power shifts from the king to the queen. Through satire and foreshadowing, Chaucer exemplifies the motif of power. When the king grants the queen power to determine the knight's fate, it proves one of Chaucer's messages that giving women power over men is indeed in the best interest of men. The queen exerts her power by determining the knight's fate and allowing him a second chance. It is apparent that the wife of bath is more of an anti-feminist. This provides the readers a chance to connect how the second chance was given and how it relates back to Chaucer's overall message.
love” makes evident Chaucer’s skewed views of love and marriage with underlying tones of misogyny. He expresses these views throughout the work, however, the theme of love and sex is most evident in the sub-stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale.
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.
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.
Hansen, Elaine Tuttle. Chaucer and the Fictions of Gender. Los Angelos, CA: University of California Press, 1992. Print.
In medieval England, society’s roles were dominated by men and women were either kept at home or doing labor work. Among the most famous medieval English literature, “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer, lies ‘The Wife of Bath's Prologue’ and ‘The Wife of Bath's Tale.’ Within, Chaucer shares his perspective of the Wife of Bath, the Queen, and the Crone. Through the use of symbolism and diction, Chaucer aims to change society’s expectations of women.
For this reason, The Wife of Bath’s Tale is often praised; however, there are still glaring problems with this story and its conclusions about women. The main issue with this story is its conclusion where Chaucer uses incongruity to criticise the options society gives women in marriage. The positive and powerful message of a woman’s sovereignty over her life is contrasted and undercut by the old woman who bore the message. The end of the tale, seems to portray a man who has learned his lesson. Rather than making the choice of when his wife would be beautiful, he states, “I put myself in your wise governing;/ Choose yourself . . .” (Chaucer). The use of the word “governing” can be connected to the idea of sovereignty where the woman is the ruler of the relationship. This would suggest that the knight has heeded the woman’s lesson; however, the use of the imperative with the word “Choose” is commanding which suggests the knight still holds the power. The tone the knight uses changes from submissive to demanding within one line. Not only is this positive development of knight learning the value of a woman’s choice undercut by the tone of the knight, but it is also undercut by the ultimate decision of the Old woman. The Old woman decides to transform permanently into a beautiful and young woman. Rather than having to sacrifice anything, the Knight gets everything he wants because his will aligns with his wife’s. The reader can assume that the Knight’s choice would be for the wife to be beautiful always because he is repulsed by her when she is an old woman and he raped a young and beautiful woman, suggesting that that is what he wants and is attracted to in a partner. The knight gets both the honor of having a beautiful wife during the day and the gratification of having an alluring wife at night, all with the
In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath is a strong woman who loudly states her opinions about the antifeminist sentiments popular at the time. Chaucer, however, frequently discredits her arguments by making them unfounded and generally compromising her character. This brings into question Chaucer's political intent with the Wife of Bath. Is he supportive of her views, or is he making a mockery of woman who challenge the patriarchal society and its restriction and mistrust of women? The Wife's comedic character, frequent misquoting of authorities, marital infidelity, and her (as well as Chaucer's) own antifeminist sentiments weaken the argument that Chaucer supported of the Wife's opinions.
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath’s Tale holds the unique position of being the only tale told by a lay female in the group. The Wife of Bath is a complex character in this, she isn't what she seems to be, and maybe not even what she herself thinks she is. One may at first believe that she represents a feminist character in this, defending the rights and power of women over men in both her prologue and tale. Though The Wife of Bath seems to see herself as a feminist (more or less as a strong independent female of her time), defending the rights and power of women over men in both her prologue the tales actual perspective is formed from the point of view of a man of the time in this, her entire image seems to shift. Notably, it is valid to state that it is highly unlikely that any man of the time period saw her in this same light; rather she seems to illustrate all of the wrongs that men found in women. Alongside this, it is important to emphasize that this tale (The Wife of Bath) begins the "Marriage Group" as G.L. Kittredge called it (even though other marriages appear in the Canterbury Tales fragments), involving the Clerk, the Merchant, the Franklin. In this, her spoken goals expressed in her Prologue, express a certain sort of unspoken implication that exerts that Alisoun intends to take the place of the traditionally held authorities on marriage. The Wife attacks medieval dogma and uses aggression as her defense. The primacy of authority over experience is turned upside-down. This in turn produces a cycle of, experience that yields tolerance, allows exceptions, and sees other views. She exemplifies what a perfect example of a "failed feminist," a weak parody of what men see feminists as.
Geoffrey Chaucer used his characters in Canterbury Tales as a way to illustrate stereotype of medieval society. The Wife of Bath, one of the pilgrims in Canterbury Tales demonstrates an authoritative role in marriage The Wife of Bath’s unusual behavior and attitudes can be interpreted by two motives: feminist ideals or sexual indulgence. When considering feminist viewpoints, it can be concluded that the Wife of Bath’s behavior is motivated by sexual indulgence.
The Wife of Bath is one of the most famous characters within Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. In her prologue, it is quickly made clear that she has had a lot of husbands and by a lot I mean five. Since she has all this experience with men, The Wife of Bath dedicates her prologue to describing how each of her marriages went. In her five marriages she has been accused of lusting too much, to being too controlling, and being abused. While some good husbands were good and some were bad, The Wife of Bath depicts a solid image of her feelings toward men. In her relationships, she must always have the upper hand. She is the type of woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. While describing one of her marriages, The Wife of Bath explains how
Dorigen is the main character in the Franklin’s tale by Chaucer and yet he manages to make her seem weak and melodramatic whilst still allowing the tale to revolve around her. Dorigen is shown as having a weak character and Chaucer allows his contempt to show through several times as he obviously feels disdain for Dorgien’s excessive display of emotion. His opinion of Dorigen is unbalanced and biased as it shows her in a light in which the reader cannot fail to dislike her. Several times Chaucer makes comments that not only undermine Dorgen but reflect on the whole female race as well e.g “as doon these noble wives when him liketh.” And then goes on to say that at her husband, Arveragus lives that she “moornth, waketh, waileth, fasteth, plaienth.” This shows how he feels that she is showing this display of emotion only because she feels that is what she should do. The way he writes shows that he doubts the sincerity of her emotions and believes her to be quite shallow.