A Comparison Of Women In The Miller's Tale And The Titanic

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The Miller’s Tale and the movie Titanic may not seem that similar at a glance, but this Geoffrey Chaucer story and James Cameron movie both include women that are important to the story and get what they want from the men around them, even though they are at a disadvantage due to being women. The literature criticism, Misogynist versus Feminist Chaucer, says “In a patriarchal society in which women enjoy a lesser degree of wealth, status and power than the men of their own class, the construction of gender involves not just the creation of social difference but also the reaffirmation of a fundamental inequality between the sexes, as sexual differences come to be presented as a justification for sexual inequality” (Rigby). These young women, who are eighteen and seventeen years old are Alison and Rose. This paper will discuss the differences between these women, the similarities of these women, and finally, the punishments of the characters within a feministic view point.
Alison and Rose are different in several ways, …show more content…

John is like Cal, in the end, they receive the similar punishment of shame. John may have broken an arm, but the real punishment comes from the embarrassment that is thrust upon him because of Nicolas and Alison’s actions. Leicester mentions that “Alison’s potential cruelty and ability to do hurt are, if anything, stressed” (492). Cal also suffers from embarrassment due to him being rejected by Rose and finding the picture of her naked, wearing the necklace, focusing all of his attention on trying to retrieve her before he gets in a lifeboat (Titanic). Nicolas and Jack receive vastly different forms of punishment for sleeping with claimed women. Nicolas just receives a brand, while Jack ends up dying from the cold temperatures of the water that he is forced to float in while waiting for

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