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Passive Women in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales?
One argument that reigns supreme when considering Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is whether or not there is an element of anti-feminism within the text. One thread that goes along with this is whether or not the women of The Canterbury Tales are passive within the tales told. This essay will explore the idea that the women found within the tales told by the pilgrims (The Knight’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale and The Wife of Bath’s Tale to name a few) are not passive at all, but rather influence the turn of events within the stories.
It is seen even in the first tale told – The Knight’s Tale – that the women portrayed within it are not passive at all, but, as previously stated, manage to persuade the males in charge to help them or do what they feel should be done. In the tale itself, the weeping of women is seen twice, and both times their weeping influences the men’s actions.
The second example of weeping within the tale, as shown here:
The queene anon, for verray wommanhede / Gan for to wepe, and so dide Emelye / And all the ladyes in the compaignye. / Greet pitee was it, as it thoughte hem alle / That evere swich a chaunce sholde falle… “Have mercy, Lord, upon us women alle!” And on hir bare knees adoun they falle / And wolde have kist his feet ther as he stood; / Til at the laste aslaked was his mood / For pitee renneth soon in gentil herte. (Benson p. 49.)
influences Theseus to agree to a battle to the death for the knights as opposed to simply beheading them as he was about to do. If these women were truly passive, then they would have not spoken up at all, or Theseus would have ignored them in favor of following through with his own wishes. Instead, he is ...
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...of the women presented within Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are passive and allow anything to happen. Indeed, quite the opposite is true and can be seen in just the few tales presented as well as many others. Though there are obvious signs of anti-feminism within the text, or anti-feminism that can be read within the text, there is also the opposite counterpoint of the activity of women within the text versus the passivity of women within the text.
Works Cited
Benson, Larry D. ed. The Riverside Chaucer.
Huppe, Bernard F. Rape and Woman’s Sovereignty in the Wife of Bath’s Tale. Modern Language Notes. Vol. 63, No. 6. June 1948. pp. 378-381.
Mann, Jill. Feminizing Chaucer. Patterson, Lee. “For the Wyves love of Bathe”: Feminine Rhetoric and Poetic Resolution in the Roman de la Rose and the Canterbury Tales. Speculum. Vol. 58, No. 3. July, 1983. pp 656-695.
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.
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
Changing Women's Roles in The Epic of Gilgamesh, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Canterbury Tales
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are filled with many entertaining tales from a variety of characters of different social classes and background. The first two tales told, by the knight and the miller, articulate very different perspectives of medieval life. Primarily, The tales of both the knight and the miller bring strikingly different views on the idea of female agency, and as we will discover, Chaucer himself leaves hints that he supports the more involved, independent Alison, over the paper-thin character of Emily.
Some say women can get the worst out of a man, but in The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1485, proves it. The tales were originally written as a collection of twenty four tales, but has been narrowed down to three short tales for high school readers. The three tales consist of “The Miller”, “The Knight”, and “The Wife of Bath” along with their respective prologues. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer shows the weak but strong role of women throughout the “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” to contrast different human characteristics and stereotypes on the spectrum of people.
The dominance of men in the Middle Ages is unethical, irrational, and dangerous; women are given few rights and the opportunity to earn rights is non-existent. The dictates to the dominance is formed by the internal combination of man’s personal desire and religious interference. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tales, the combined perspectives’ on a haughty Pardoner and non-subservient wife is the stronghold of separation in moral roles. The moral roles between men and women are exemplified in the rankings of religious hierarchy for men are at the top and women towards the bottom. Even prestigious women, ones with noble connections, are subservient to men, but contradictorily have religious affiliations. The “Wife of Bath’s Tale” is a perfect example of defying man’s dominance and the “Pardoner’s Tale”, a problematic reasoning of why selfishness connects moreover to the manipulation. The frailties of religious reasoning however, will cause The Pardoner and the Wife of Bath to be separated from society’s morals.
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.
Hansen, Elaine Tuttle. Chaucer and the Fictions of Gender. Los Angelos, CA: University of California Press, 1992. Print.
As a man fascinated with the role of women during the 14th Century, or most commonly known as the Middle Ages, Chaucer makes conclusive evaluations and remarks concerning how women were viewed during this time period. Determined to show that women were not weak and humble because of the male dominance surrounding them, Chaucer sets out to prove that women were a powerful and strong-willed gender. In order to defend this argument, the following characters and their tales will be examined: Griselda from the Clerk's Tale, and the Wife of Bath, narrator to the Wife of Bath's Tale. Using the role of gender within the genres of the Canterbury Tales, exploring each woman's participation in the outcomes of their tales, and comparing and contrasting these two heroines, we will find out how Chaucer broke the mold on medievalist attitudes toward women.
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.
In Don Juan Canto 1 by Lord Byron and The Miller’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, women play cardinal roles in the development and advancement of the pieces. In the 17th and 18th century, women were still considered to be the masters of deceit by using their feminine wiles to entice men. In both of these pieces, women are the catalyst to the embarrassment and loss of livelihood that the main male characters face. As is seen in much of the literature of these times, women were typically the main reason for any misfortunates that the men faced because of their “natural” ability to tempt the ways of men. As it began with Adam and Eve, “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:6) The depiction of women as temptresses has been perpetuated ever since, and is upheld in literature such as these pieces.
Throughout an author’s literature, many times we find common themes; this is definitely true in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. In the literary work, the reader can find common themes through many of the tales. In the Wife of Bath tale, The Miller’s tale, and the Pardoner’s tale, it is easy to see that one of the main themes through the book is that women are the downfall of men. Although this may not have been Chaucer’s personal feeling, he gives ample proof to prove this statement through his characters and their stories.
Women were almost an afterthought during this time; it was the man that received all of the recognition and a woman's only job was to keep the house and have children. There were only a few female characters in The Canterbury Tales, but those few are a telltale sign of how low women were viewed. The nun is supposed to represent what a lady should be, celibate, coy, respectful, etc. Though the nun may not exemplify these attributes in her personal life, she manages to continue to have people perceive her as what she so desperately tries to portray. The Wife of Bath gives a an alternate view of what some women might be seen as, as well during this era. The Wife of Bath has been married and divorced five times and at this point she has figured out what exactly she wants from a man,. She wants a husband so that she can be in control of him, she wants to make all of the decisions and be in complete control one hundred percent of the time. These two women are very different and Chaucer included them to give more of a variety in the story. Having too many of the same type of character can make the story seem flat and uninteresting. The main view of women at this time was that they were nobody until they had
Set in medieval times, The Canterbury Tales by Gregory Chaucer tells the experiences of a group of pilgrims traveling. One pilgrim in particular, Wife of Bath, gives interesting insight into women’s life in this period. She fights to gain power in a society that limits women. Though the Canterbury Tales seems to be an anti feminist text, Chaucer’s use of a strong female character suggests he supports women gaining more rights. He addresses the unfair treatment of women in marriages and the lack of power that they have over their own bodies through the Wife of Bath.
The only two women most significant and described in great detail in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer who provide the greatest insight into contemporary medieval society are the Wife of Bath and the Prioress. These two women appear similar in the General Prologue of the poem but, as we see through their tales, they are quite unique women and most importantly very different from one another. By examining both the Wife of Bath and the Prioress's tales, we are able to see the stark contrast between their social standards and behavior. However, in spite of the fact that these two ladies belong to two different social spheres, they surprisingly share some common characteristics.