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Chaucer and gender roles
Chaucer's use of women in his writing
What does chaucer convey about genders
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Chaucer's Use of the Female Gender to Shape His Text with Reference to Wife of Bath
With reference to Chaucer's Wife of Bath, we can clearly see how Chaucer uses the female gender to shape his text. Chaucer uses the female gender to show the many chacteristics or traits a female may have. He shows this through the tale of the Wife of Bath and the female characters in the tale such as the old women. Chaucer hopes to give us an insight into a women's thought and desires.
The Wife of Bath tells the tale of a young knight whom, after the rape of a maiden, must search for the answer to the question, "what is it that women most desire?" The knight has one year to find the answer and return to King Arthur's court, or else he will be sentenced to death. The knight's journey does not go well. No matter where he goes or whom he asks, he does not get a good answer. As he approaches, they disappear leaving an old woman. She says that she has the answer to his question, but will only state it before the queen, and on the condition that he does whatever she asks of him. The knight agrees.
In the presence of the queen, the old woman says that what women desire most is sovereignty over their husbands. Nobody disagrees with her answer, and the old woman asks the knight to marry her. The knight agrees reluctantly.
On their wedding night, the knight is despondent over what he has gotten himself into. The old woman lectures him on the trivial nature of appearances, then gives the knight a choice; ugly and faithful or beautiful but unfaithful. The knight leaves the decision up to her. The old woman rewards him by giving him both.
There are many characteristics of the wife of bath that Chaucer uses to help shape the text. The wife of ...
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...ks at the marriage sacrament as a misery, however is still looking for her sixth husband. I feel Chaucer is showing how important the Wife of Bath needs a man in her life not only to control but also for her own personal fulfillment. Chaucer uses the female characters to show the type of lady that was trying to change her status but inside felt the same womanly feelings and emotions as any other. Although she wants to be in control over her husbands she realizes the importance of them in her life but is reluctant to emit this. Chaucer uses her clothes to show her strong-minded character. He takes the female gender and combines real character traits of most women a long with some more uncommon traits and places them in the female characters of this tale. The female charters Chaucer portrays help shape his texts whole message as well as opinions about this gender.
It is up to her whether to make the knight the happiest man on earth or to make him miserable for as long as she lives.
Chaucer exemplifies this in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.” Living in a male-dominant society, the wife ...
In the words of the Broadview Anthology’s introduction to the Wife of Bath, she is “a sexually experienced cynic who teaches young people the tricks of love…. The Wife’s history and the literary shape of her prologue conform to many of the traditional misogynistic stereotypes found in her husband’s book” (Broadview 298). Why would Chaucer write such a clever portrayal of personal pleasure through the eyes of a woman, and yet design her to possess every quality so despised and abhorred within her so-called lifetime? Because the audience of this poem would probably include wives, and because everything the Wife describes is almost laughably vulgar, it can be understood that this poem would not be interpreted literally and women would instead be forced to listen to an account about female power, desire, and pleasure written, unfortunately, as cruel satire of their
... beloved wife has made the decision for him. After going through this incredible journey of his, not only did he study women but he had to explain what women most desired to the queen. Otherwise he would have been beheaded, but was spared because of his looks. Was this justice? Indeed it would have been justice back in the 1300’s because if you were beautiful you could be spared and do a noble deed for the king/queen as they asked. If you did not complete it who knows what could have happened. But for the knight, he completed what he was told to do and in fact after he raped the woman and he was being prosecuted, the journey of his made him find the true knight inside of him. The old woman choice that was offer to the knight demonstrated that he learned his lesson through his sufficient punishment and redemption for his crime.
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.
Characters such as Ophelia and Gertrude were developed to reinforce society’s view that women were inferior. Shakespeare created these women to represent the weak and passive women that were unfortunately the norm many centuries ago. Chaucer’s ‘Wife of Bath’ was a unique character at the time because she didn’t portray atypical women; she represented a strong will, confidence & dominance. These character traits were rarely used to describe women, however, Chaucer used these to develop a character, strong enough to make an impact on readers for centuries.
Through the help of an old woman described as a “fouler-looking creature (Chaucer, 285)” by making a deal that he would do anything she required of him, the knight was able to give the correct answer to the Queen’s question. According to the knight, as told by the old woman, what a woman desires most is “ the self-same sovereignty / Over her husband as over her lover, / And master him; he must not be above her (Chaucer, 286).” Thus, the Queen declared the knight freedom from the punishment of death, while he was forced to accept the old woman’s request for his hand in marriage. While not a formal punishment, it was “torture that his wife looked foul (Chaucer, 287).” This punishment of marriage, however, to an old, “‘abominably plain,’” “‘poor,’” and “‘low-bred’” woman was only temporal. In order to “‘fufil [the knight’s] worldly appetites, she presents the anguished knight a choice on whether she remains old and ugly, but loyal or young and pretty, but attractive to other men. Rather than making the choice that pleased him, the knight left the choice up to the old woman saying “‘You may make the choice yourself, for the provision / Of what may be agreeable and rich / In honour to us both, I don’t care which; / Whatever pleases you suffices me (Chaucer, 291).” Happy to have been given a choice, the old
Hansen, Elaine Tuttle. (1992). Chaucer and the Fictions of Gender. University of California Press, Ltd: England. (pgs 188-208).
One of the most interesting and widely interpreted characters in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is the Wife of Bath. She has had five different husbands and openly admits to marrying the majority of them for their money. The wife appears to be more outspoken and independent than most women of medieval times, and has therefore been thought to symbolize the cause of feminism; some even refer to her as the first actual feminist character in literature. Readers and scholars probably argue in favor of this idea because in The Canterbury Tales, she uniquely gives her own insight and opinions on how relations between men and women should be carried out. Also, the meaning of her tale is that virtually all women want to be granted control over themselves and their relationship with their husbands, which seems to convince people that the Wife of Bath should be viewed as some sort of revolutionary feminist of her time. This idea, however, is incorrect. The truth is that the Wife of Bath, or Alisoun, merely confirms negative stereotypes of women; she is deceitful, promiscuous, and clandestine. She does very little that is actually empowering or revolutionary for women, but instead tries to empower herself by using her body to gain control over her various husbands. The Wife of Bath is insecure, cynical towards men in general, and ultimately, a confirmation of misogynistic stereotypes of women.
Judgment is necessary for the self-preservation of humans solely when applied with original intent; however, overused and abused, judgment can mutate into prejudice. Frequently, openly addressing the issues of prejudice is more effective than suppressing it, facilitating optimum understanding while enabling capacity for change. Successfully employed, satire may enlighten hearts and minds to the ridiculousness of prejudice, while opportunely comical. Humorously, Alison exhibits loquaciousness, manipulation, sexual incontinence, indecisiveness, deceitfulness, and countless additional stereotypes in the prologue and tale, while she clarifies that sovereignty over husbands is the exclusive womanly desire. Auspiciously, Geoffrey Chaucer’s theme illustrates the absurdity of female stereotypes by utilizing satirical expression, ironically upholding the irrational presence of misogynistic
In the 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, which included a progressive view of women's concerns in "The Wife of Bath." During a time when women were still considered chattel existing almost exclusively to produce heirs, Chaucer takes a stand on issues affecting women that were not commonly given consideration. Writing in the first person, Chaucer is able to describe life from the viewpoint of a woman. Through this style, Chaucer addresses subject matter that would have been too candid for a female writer during his time period. By writing "The Wife of Bath" in a satirical way, Chaucer points out issues facing women regarding double standards, the validity of female desire, and the economic necessity of women to marry well while keeping the text humorous with some common female stereotypes regarding deception that have persisted into present day culture.
The Wife of Bath represents the "liberal" extreme in regards to female stereotypes of the Middle Ages. Unlike most women being anonymous during the Middle Ages, she has a mind of her own and voices herself. Furthermore, she thinks extremely highly of herself and enjoys showing off her Sunday clothes whenever the opportunity arises. She intimidates men and women alike due to the power she possesses. Because of her obnoxious attitude Chaucer makes her toothless, fat and large. Doubtlessly, she is very ugly, almost to the point of "not-presentable. This to me shows how Chaucer depicts what men don't want. The Prioress, on the other hand, serves as a foil to the Wife of Bath. Chaucer describes her as "tender-hearted" who cannot bear the sight of pain or physical suffering. She will cry at the thought of a dog dying. It could represent that she has a frail soul with low tolerance for pain and suffering. The latter description carries over into the modern stereotypes about women as skittish and afraid members of society who need to be cared for.
The Wife of Bath 's prologue and tale has a very personal authenticity to it. Although Geoffrey Chaucer is the author, the wife of Bath takes agency to talk about herself and her experiences. It is almost as if the wife speaks for him. The expectations of married women, at the time The Canterberry Tales were written, were to be modest, true and obedient wives. The wife of Bath, however, admits to using her own experiences as the source of her knowledge in marriage, and not the views of society. It is the fact that she relies on her internal thoughts and experiences that allows one to see her (and Chaucer 's) personal insight on the desires of married women. Although some may say that the wife of bath is simply looking for dominion over her husbands, Chaucer characterizes the wife of bath as a bold woman, and also uses the first person point of
Women have the ability to get what they want, when they want it. Chaucer portrays the Wife of bath as the dominant person in her marriages. She looks at men as her trinkets to be used and played with. She moves from one man to another, always looking for more. The Wife of Bath is a control freak, wanting to have sex when she desires it and with whom she desires.
Morgan implies, “Geoffrey Chaucer is a major influential figure in the history of English literature.” Chaucer battled problem that we face today. Chaucer fights the idea of the patriarchy by creating the character The Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath challenges the idea that men are better than women. Chaucer claims on page 145 line 212, “Less than your wife, nay, than your very love.” The Wife of Bath wouldn’t listen to any man over her. She was an independent woman that only listened to