Throughout the ages, the story of the original sin is used to explain the struggles of women and why they are inferior to man. Eve “took of [the forbidden tree’s] fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6), and as punishment, God made it so “[her husband] shall rule over her” (3:16). As an important text during the lifetime of the characters who tell the collection of stories that compose the Canterbury Tales, most of the pilgrims were familiar with this scripture and believed that the Bible’s word was law. For that reason, the popular belief of the time was that women were inferior to their male counterparts. However, a couple of characters in the tales challenge this viewpoint and show that women were also capable of making their own choices. As the pilgrims struggle with the issue of where women belong, their view of Eve in the story of original sin is altered as well. From mild indifference to intimate involvement, each pilgrim has a different attachment to the story of the Eve, and their views on women in society are reflected in their connection to the story.
The Monk tells the story of Adam and his fall from God’s grace in his series of tragedies, but Eve is noticeably absent compared to the references to her in the other tales. The monk describes Adam’s expulsion from the garden as “As Adam, til he for mysgovernaunce/ Was dryven out of hys hye prosperitee/ To labour, and to helle, and to meschaunce” (2012-2014). The Monk easily could have made Eve the reason for the original sin, but instead, he tells the tale with Adam as the subject of the tragedy. In doing so, the Monk is either making arguing that it was only when Adam ate the fruit that created the original sin and that the actions of Eve were inconsequential, or that too much bla...
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...tations of Eve vary. Eve’s story may be written very simply in the Bible, but the way that the pilgrims interact with scripture make the straightforward account take on more diverse interpretations.
Works Cited
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue.” The Canterbury Tales. Ed. Larry D. Benson. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2000. 87-98.
Dinshaw, Carolyn. Chaucer's Sexual Poetics. University of Wisconsin Press, 1989. Print.
Hansen, Elaine Tuttle. Chaucer and the Fictions of Gender. Los Angelos, CA: University of California Press, 1992. Print.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1957.
Weisl, Angela Jane. ""Quiting" Eve: Violence Against Women in the Canterbury Tales." Violence Against Women in Medieval Texts. Ed. Anna Roberts. University of Florida Press, 1998. Print.
During the medieval ages, women were described as evil creatures that would destroy anyone standing in their way to get what they want. People claimed that women's malicious intentions clouded their judgment from doing the right thing forcing them to be selfish. In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Malory’s The Death of King Arthur, both focus on women’s behavioral impulses through their dishonesty, manipulation, and their promiscuity.
Much of the story of Adam and Eve can be explained within biblical context, and its male supremacy bias confirms to be of historical origin rather than divine; however it is perceived as comprising the “fundamental,” and essentially destructive "truths" about the nature of women. Eve has represented the fundamental character and identity of all women. No, there haven’t been other women with redeemable qualities to represent them throughout history. Even those as great as Cleopatra have not earned the title as extraordinary woman in the history books, because her dominance over men was perceived as unbecoming and disgraceful. However, Eve’s image is what has represented women. Through her words and actions, the true nature of women was exposed; her story and “weakness” showcases what women’s innate nature corresponds to. Eve represents everything about a woman a man should guard against; she is the original sinner, and cannot be trusted in both form and symbol. The idea that her actions are not without warrant, and therefore she is a representation of us is, in fact, what has been propagated throughout hundreds of years. Eve is woman, and because of her, all women are by nature disobedient, prone to temptation, weak-willed. The connotations associated with womanhood, in turned have become, untrustworthy, deceitful,
The moral compass of mankind has always piqued the interest of authors. The Middle Ages was a time of immoral behavior, corrupt religious officials, and disregard of marital vows. Geoffrey Chaucer used The Canterbury Tales to explore his personal views of this dark time. In particular, he crafted “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” “The Prioress’s Tale,” and “The Shipman’s Tale” to portray the tainted society, using women in all of them to bring forth his views. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer depicts women as immodest and conniving beings to suggest the moral corruption of the Middle Ages.
Cox, Catherine S. Gender and Language in Chaucer. Gainesville, Florida: U of Florida P, 1997.
Looking back through many historical time periods, people are able to observe the fact that women were generally discriminated against and oppressed in almost any society. However, these periods also came with women that defied the stereotype of their sex. They spoke out against this discrimination with a great amount of intelligence and strength with almost no fear of the harsh consequences that could be laid out by the men of their time. During the Medieval era, religion played a major role in the shaping of this pessimistic viewpoint about women. The common belief of the patriarchal-based society was that women were direct descendants of Eve from The Bible; therefore, they were responsible for the fall of mankind. All of Eve’s characteristics from the biblical story were believed to be the same traits of medieval women. Of course, this did not come without argument. Two medieval women worked to defy the female stereotype, the first being the fictional character called The Wife of Bath from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The second woman, named Margery Kempe, was a real human being with the first English autobiography written about her called The Book of Margery Kempe. In these two texts, The Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe choose to act uniquely compared to other Christians in the medieval time period because of the way religion is interpreted by them. As a result, the women view themselves as having power and qualities that normal women of their society did not.
Vaněčková, Vladislava. “Women in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales: Woman as a Narrator, Woman in the Narrative.” Luminarium.Org. Anniina Jokinen, 6 Sept. 2012. 5 May. 2014
The investigation into whether or not Geoffrey Chaucer was ahead of his time in terms of his views on feminism has been up for debate for hundreds of years. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue is just one solitary
The depreciation of women and their overall inferior position in society can be attributed to the androcentric interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, especially the story of Adam and Eve. Throughout history, the story of Adam and Eve has been used by men to point out the inherent evil in women by pinning the eventual expulsion of Adam and Eve from Heaven on the neck of Eve. Eve has long been blamed for the expulsion from Heaven and in effect, women, even up until today, are portrayed as the “gateway to sin.”
Most versions of Eve’s experiences in Eden before the fall are never truly explored, instead adhering strictly to the biblical text and focusing on her role in the fall. Milton, however, offers a radically different depiction of Eve. Her active involvement is not constrained only to her deception and fall. Milton goes beyond her portrayal in the Bible, depicting her prelapsarian role in Eden. While the hierarchical order of all creatures, including men and women, remains intact, Milton portrays an Eve who works directly alongside Adam. She is able to think and act for herself and exhibits her independence throughout the story. Milton’s Eve in Paradise Lost, then, is a feminist, rejecting
The justification for the subjugation of woman has been a hotly debated subject throughout the ages and several ideals and theories have arisen because of it. One of the most common justifications is the story of Adam and Eve, however like most biblical stories as well as many other translated texts, the story of Adam and Eve is up to interpretation. Two exemplary authors who have thoroughly interpreted the story of Man’s great sin have presented their own respectable views on Eve’s actions and helped broaden the views on feminism. The authors Speght and Milton present arguments against Eve’s failure as a justification for the subjugation of women.
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.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Book of the Duchess.” In The Riverside Chaucer. Ed. Larry D. Benson. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1987.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is an important part of his most famed work, The Canterbury Tales. One of the most respected highly analyzed of all of the tales, this particular one is important both for its character development and its prevailing themes. It seamlessly integrates ideas on society at that time with strong literary development. This work stands the test of time both because of its literary qualities and because of what it can teach us about the role of women in late Medieval society.
Hansen, Elaine Tuttle. (1992). Chaucer and the Fictions of Gender. University of California Press, Ltd: England. (pgs 188-208).
In a society, there are many different opinions on how a women figure is seen. These ideas have changed overtime with the progress of women bring consider equal to men. There are two ways a woman can be interpreted, one brings lower to the men and the other being equal to men. Women play an important role in shaping lives, directly or indirectly. The tales depicted in this book shows the reader the broader insight of how women were seen as in previous years. The different ideas of what women meant to men are seen in the tales told by the characters in the book, mostly the men. The perspective of a woman for a male and a female is different. If we were to compare two tales from each side, the opinion would only be in favour for the individual who is narrating the tale. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”, the role of women is portrayed in two different ways, one