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Representation Of Women In Literature
Representation Of Women In Literature
Representation Of Women In Literature
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Rather than taking her chances with a strong horse, which could possibly take advantage of her, the wife “upon an ambler esily she sat”, rides in confidence. She chose a steed that is exceptionally tameable, so she may not fall behind the “compaignye”, and her “spores sharpe” allow her to easily control her horse and urge it to go faster. If we add these two facts together, we can clearly see Chaucer’s suggestion for the wife’s desire of power and control. This is the basis for the first paragraph, because throughout the prologue of the Wife and her tale, we see certain themes that stand out significantly more than others. Power being the first, and feminism the second. These two themes go hand in hand when it comes to the Wife, and fortunately …show more content…
for us, creates one of the most mesmerizing characters ever created by Chaucer. Seeming to have given a prime demonstration of the social classes of wives during this time period, we see a substantial amount of anti-feminist stereotypes that come along with it. Having the Wife on the pilgrimage; being strong willed and ruthless in her desires, allows these stereotypes to be challenged. Throughout the Wife’s prologue were presented a strong feminist position. She expresses her points of views and relies upon her own experiences as a valid source of knowledge whenever a “righteous” figure challenges her. Her experiences are expressed with infinite zest, conviction, and such determined guarantee of herself being unerring, that it is very difficult for the other pilgrims to argue with her any further; though they are put off by it, they cannot deny her rationality.
It’s clear the wife enjoys hearing herself and fishing for a good argument, but she’s, rather, more clever than scholarly. This is because, when it comes to her feminist point of view, she believes her own experiences to be more accurate than a scholarly diatribe. Put simply, she finds that her experiences give her knowledge and knowledge is power. With this we can see a direct relation to the tales theme of power when the Knight seeks knowledge from the old hag. The Knight has the daunting task of answering the biggest question known to men. As Sigmund Freud has put so well, it is to answer "The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is 'What does a woman want?'”(Sigmund Freud, 1953) And when the knight receives his answer and returns to court, the two themes are reinforced because “Wommen desiren to have sovereynetee” (line 1038). Looking deeper into the meaning of the prologue and tale, we see that this is in fact the
truth.
A close reading of this text will have you pointing your analytical finger in many directions. The discussion of masculinity, chivalry, and knighthood are some very common themes of this story, but issues with feminism certainly appear as well. For example, how the Green Knight uses his wife in his scheme is very questionable. Of course, any examination of this text would be done with modern bias, but nonetheless it is interesting to analyze these sorts of topics especially when a trend can be found in modern literature.
In "The Ending of 'Troilus,'" E. Talbot Donaldson writes in response to the conclusion of the "Knight’s Tale," one of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, "What it does suggest…is that Providence is not working justly." Though Donaldson correctly points out the fact that the "Knight’s Tale" ends in injustice, he confuses the role of sin in the injustice with the role of God. He asserts that God is to blame for the injustice in the "Knight's Tale" rather than exploring the role of human sinfulness.
...Wife of Bath’s Tale explains the Wife’s, and possibly Chaucer’s intentions behind sharing such a broad biography in her prologue is an addition of the powerful relationship between Allison and her many husbands and how she is so willingly and confident in anything that she does because she feels that she has power over her four husbands.
In his story titled "The Canterbury Tales" Chaucer seems to truly admire some of the pilgrims while displaying disdain and sarcasm towards the others. The pilgrims that he most seems to admire are the Knight, the Oxford Clerk and the Parson. The knight he seems to admire based on his notation of all the campaigns in which the knight has participated in service to just causes. Chaucer makes mention of the knight 's worthiness, wisdom and humility "Though so illustrious, he was very wise And bore himself as meekly as a maid." (67,68 Chaucer). It seems as though Chaucer admires the knights great ability both in warfare and practicing what he preaches. This can be seen in his description of all those he seems to admire in the tale. The Oxford Clerk
There are two types of people in this world, the first ones are, the people who doesn't really like reading books because most of them doesn't have pictures on it, and they find it extremely boring. Then the other type of people, who simply gets lost into their book every time they read, because they just simply love reading. Some of them even say that when they're reading, it is taking them to a different world that only their imagination can create. That is why some people consider their books as their most priced possessions, because of how much it means to them and also some books can be rather pricey. Indeed, books can really be expensive, however, you might be too astonished when you see the following books, because they're considered
Chaucer believes that it is in men's best interest to give women dominance over them. "When she saw her time, upon a day: 'Thou standest yet,' she said, 'in such condition, That of thy life yet thou hast no assurance I grant thee life, if thou canst tell me What thing it is that women most desire" (Chaucer, lines 901-905). This illustrates how the queen exerts her dominance when the power shifts from the king to the queen. Through satire and foreshadowing, Chaucer exemplifies the motif of power. When the king grants the queen power to determine the knight's fate, it proves one of Chaucer's messages that giving women power over men is indeed in the best interest of men. The queen exerts her power by determining the knight's fate and allowing him a second chance. It is apparent that the wife of bath is more of an anti-feminist. This provides the readers a chance to connect how the second chance was given and how it relates back to Chaucer's overall message.
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, there are several stories told through pilgrims traveling to a shrine. Through his humorous telling of these tales, Chaucer attempts to comment on many issues that were prevalent during his life, especially religious officials’ corruption. Chaucer also presents what may seem shocking narratives of characters about their lives and the stories they will tell. In “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” Chaucer presents an early feminist model in the title character who rebukes the religious men who condemn her for her numerous husbands. Chaucer also presents a character in the pardoner, who is well aware of his corruption as a religious official and even explains to the group how he cons people to give him money.
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.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, (written c. 1387), is a richly varied compilation of fictional stories as told by a group of twenty-nine persons involved in a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury, England during the fourteenth century. This journey is to take those travelers who desire religious catharsis to the shrine of the holy martyr St. Thomas a Becket of Canterbury. The device of a springtime pilgrimage provided Chaucer with a diverse range of characters and experiences, with him being both a narrator and an observer. Written in Middle English, each tale depicts parables from each traveler.
Expectations are either set high or set low; and everyone who’s a part of society chooses to meet, exceed, or ignore those expectations. In the prologue of The Canterbury Tales, author Geoffrey Chaucer creates a diverse group of characters who are involved in several different roles of society. Throughout the prologue Chaucer humorously describes each person, and their position in their society and how they live their life; whether that be the way that is expected of them or not. Chaucer satirizes characters in the prologue by using exaggeration, hyperboles, irony, and imagery to represent through them the choices that different people make based on the expectations of society.
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.
For ages, people have trusted the Church and its clergy as a holy and sacred escape from the unethical world, but things are not always as they seem. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church played a major role in the lives of people, spiritually, socially, and economically. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was consumed by corruption, due to members of the clergy not following their vows and living extravagant lifestyles. Many members of the church lived lives that resembled those of princes, experiencing luxury and leisure. Throughout Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales the wholesome clergy members are contrasted with members who are sinful and lewd. Despite the fact that Chaucer crafts the perfect, pious Parson, the
In the wife's tale a knight raped a woman and was sent to court for sentencing. The only way out of getting sentenced to death was to find the answer to a question the queen and court decided upon. “A twelve month and a day to seek and learn /Sufficient answer, then you shall return./ I shall take gages from you to extort/surrender of your body to the court.” (Page 283) This part of the tale created a serious and controlling picture because in this situation one could die and one has been raped. The queen has taken control over the knight and then she sent the knight to find the answer of what women wanted most in a marriage. The woman who were raped had no power in the forced intimate contact that the knight brought upon her. Although, she had no power the queen possessed the power to sentence him to death. Instead of just killing him right away she took an educational method to teach the man what women want in their encounters with others. Along the way he met one woman who was willing to help him, but after she attended court with him to present his answer she forced him to marry her. The knight had little power because the women possessed the control due to her deal with the knight which saved him. As time went on, the woman noticed how he was not happy and asked him if he would rather an unfaithful but pretty wife. He let the woman decide for him and she
Chaucer's society represents every social class. In doing so, it shows what it takes to actually make a society function. The different people carry different stories to share. These stories carry lessons learned in hopes of sharing them with others so that they may not end up in the same predicaments. After all, that is the main point of sharing stories, isn't it?
In Chaucer's tale "The Wife's of Baths Tale" is a story about how the ideal marriage should be. In this tale the wife explains how she sees how an ideal marriage should be. The wife's view on marriage is to have mastery, and dominate the marriage. In other words let the wife run the show, she wears the pants in the house hole, and what she says goes. In her prologue she explains her beliefs and actions towards her many husbands. Her behavior may seem spectacular, but her needs and aspirations are difficult to explain. She likes men, and she dose not like sleeping alone (Chaucer 2). The wife felt the need to be loved and have mastery no matter what happened. During her four marri...