Roles Of Women In The Knight's Tale Essay

During the late medieval time period, women were often looked down upon in society. They were seen as unreasonable, weak, and in need of a man to keep them in order. The original sin was often used to degrade women, placing a belief that women were morally weaker than men, and were likely to tempt men into sin. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the role of women in society is highlighted by portraying a model woman in The Knight’s Tale, compared to the idea of a sinful woman in The Miller’s Tale. As society saw women as sinful and sneaky, the ideal woman would be silent and subject to male authority, which Emily represents in The Knight’s Tale. Alison depicts the societal view of a sneaky woman who will tempt men into sin with her beauty. While a medieval author like Chaucer believed the societal views of an oppressed woman, Christine de

Christine de Pizan was a strong independent woman. She was educated, and raised three children alone with no inheritance after her husband passed away. She is also thought to be the first professional writer period. Her life was very different than most women during the time period of the late 1300- early 1400s, but it gave her the idea that women were not what society thought them out to be. She did not need men to become the strong woman she was, and she understood that women are not just simple weak people, from her life experience. Therefore in The Book of the City of Ladies, the women she portrays are women who are famous for their strength, knowledge, and loyalty. As Christine states at the beginning of her novel, “They all concur in one conclusion: that the behavior of women is inclined to and full of every vice” (de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies I.1.1, pg 4). This observation comes from all the philosophers, and poets she has read, whom all depict the common societal view of women. Yet, Christine puts this point in there to start