Compare And Contrast The Wife Of Bath Econ And Federigo's Falcon

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“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Chaucer and “Federigo's Falcon” by Giovanni Boccaccio are both stories that evaluate sacrifices men have to make for women. The authors show that honor from a man and power over him are what a woman most want, when the knight ironically lets the woman make a decision for him, and when Federigo sacrifices the only joy in his world for Monna.
In the beginning of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, the Knight takes advantage of a virgin woman, but by the end he is letting a woman make a decision for him. The knight gives up all of his power and tells the old woman “I leave the matter to your wise decision. / You make the choice yourself for the provision” (Chaucer 376-377). By saying this, it shows that on the knight’s quest for the answer to what women truly want, he has earned his honor and respects women, because that is what they truly want. The knight then goes on to say how men should let their wives have power and that God should “cut short the lives/Of those who won’t be governed by their wives” (407-408). This is ironic, …show more content…

Federigo wanted to do anything he could to impress Monna and he wanted to “do everything in my power to prepare a more sumptuous dish than those I would offer to my ordinary guests.” (Boccaccio 164). This shows that he was willing to do whatever it takes to please her, but didn’t know her original inquiry was to get the falcon for her son. Although in order to save her dying son she needed the falcon, she wants to be with Federigo because she “would sooner have a gentleman without riches, than riches without a gentleman.”(165).Federigo's sacrifice represents how he sees Monna and women in general, and this makes her want to be with nobody but him. He doesn’t have any wealth, but when he gave all of his power to Monna and made a huge sacrifice for her, he earned his

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