the Wife was able to use her sexuality in order to withhold sexual advances from her husband in order to gain what she wants, such as land and treasure. The Wife continues on to discuss the idea that no man has the ability to lie and be deceitful the way that women do. Actively pursuing the gratification of obtaining all that she wishes, the Wife reveals her manipulation tactics, such as accusing her husband of infidelity, when in reality, she was the one participating in extramarrital affairs. She again incorporates her sexuality into her tactics by stating, “For if I wanted to sell my belle chose, then I could walk fresh as is a rose” (Chaucer), revealing her persuasion for her husbands to provide for her financially beacuse her sexual favors …show more content…
During the beginning of the marriage to her fifth husband, Jenkin, the Wife’s aggressive tones and actions are restored to the more common conception of women during the time this tale was written. Jenkin, the most loved husband of all by the Wife, perfected the art of flattering her, yet also violently beat her when she took pages out of his favorite book, Wicked Wives. The content of this book angered the Wife due to its many anti-feminest stories from male clerks. Like in Christine de Pizan’s, The Book of the City of Ladies, the Wife aspires to remove the …show more content…
It was common at the time these texts were written for males to describe women in a similar manner, often relegating them to the traditional status of powerless, dutiful, and housebound. However, conversation between de Pizan and Lady Reason contradicts this as Lady Reason provides examples of women who have held similar positions as men and been equally as successful in their endeavors. Lady Reason states to de Pizan, “Believe me, many crucial and worthy arts and sciences have been discovered thanks to the ingenuity and cleverness of women…” (de Pizan), again reassuring de Pizan of female equality amongst men. De Pizan, however does not place emphasis upon the idea of promoting feminism at the expense of men, such as is evident in Arisophanes’ Lysistrata. She, instead, prioritizes her plan to erase the opinionated differences between men and women in order to reveal a truthful image of the human experience. Likewise, Geoffrey Chaucer, in “The Wife’s Bath’s Prologue,” contends that while men are viewed as superior beings in society, women possess similar characteristics that motion for the equality of genders. Chaucer effectively instills actions of cunning and deceit to reveal the superior abilities women hold over men that were never written about in men’s tales. The Wife takes clear advantage of men’s fears and weaknesses in order to gain
The use of euphemism and crudeness in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” is simultaneously unnerving and amusing, and begs the question of how a “wicked” woman like The Wife could ever actually progress in medieval society. Chaucer incorporates subtle allusions to female sexual organs and it is this bluntness (that would raise eyebrows even today) which establishes the Wife as such a powerfully outspoken character. Because courtship in Chaucer’s time was considered worthy of complete submission, the fact that the Wife places such emphasis on domination and even psychological power hints at her being an object of irony (and not a feminist figure “before her time”). It is for this reason that Chaucer’s delicate use of “queynte”- a term from which
Marriage is an aspect of medieval society that strives to remain pure and innocent, but when the sin of lust is compounded, problems start to rise. The marriages during the middle ages are not much different than present day, because they originate by a physical, emotional, and mental attraction between two people of the opposite sex. Chaucer demonstrates several different circumstances dealing with marriages. Most are comic in nature, and illustrate crude, sexual humor (Varnam, 1). The first circumstance that Chaucer addresses is a “January and May,” relationship. This is a situation where an older man falls in love with a scandalous young girl in “The Merchant’s Tale.” In this specific case, she deceives him to believe that she is innocent (Rogers 2: 385). January has a description in “The Merchant’s Tale,” of being single for over sixty years and he has reached a point in his life when he wanted to experience the bliss of marriage. January chooses May because of enticing feelings o...
In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, a reader is introduced to a rather bizarre and heterogeneous group of people leaving for a pilgrimage. The Wife of Bath is the most interesting and lively character of the group. Her "Prologue" and "Tale" provide readers with a moral lesson as well as comic relief. The Wife's "Prologue" serves as an overture to her "Tale", in which she states a very important point regarding the nature of women and their most sacred desires. According to this character, women desire sovereignty, or power, over their men most in the world. This wish seems to be most appropriate for women of the time period in which Chaucer lived. However, women today no longer wish to dominate their men - sovereignty of women over men is not relevant in the twenty-first century. The reason is that women are no longer deprived of power and freedom.
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.
...en compared with modern day women this is a truly outdated stereotype that carries very little weight if any at all. Chaucer’s work in the Wife of Bath stereotypes women as manipulating, sinful, and yearning to gain power over their husbands. And although not always projected in an entirely negative light, it seems that as a whole Chaucer attempted to create an evil stereotype of women.
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.
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.
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.
The Wife of Bath is known as one of the world’s first feminists. Her ability to use her femininity to take advantage of men is acknowledged by many who read Chaucer’s anthology. He writes in line 470 of the anthology, “Gat-toothed was she, soothly for to saye...” By saying this, Chaucer is indicating that the Wife of Bath can appear very loving to men. By her having a gap between her teeth, she is showing a sign of amorousness. Chaucer is furthering this sign into translating that the Wife of Bath is considered attractive by a variety of men. In lines 477 to 478, Geoffrey Chaucer writes, “Of remedies of love she knew parchaunce, for she coude of that art the olde daunce.” Most men may not have realized, but the Wife of Bath knew how to charm just about any man. She had been with so many men that nothing is new to her. This leads one to believe she is very knowledgable and cunning, not just a woman in need of a man’s fortune. It takes an astute observer, like Chaucer, to understand
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.
The bleak tone of this story takes a particularly sad and disturbing tinge when the wife illustrates a scene from early on in her marriage where she tries to get her husband to satisfy her desire and provide her with mutual satisfaction, only to have him rebuke and reprimand her. In fact, the husband responds in such a particularly brusque and hysterical manner that the reader can see how traumatized the wife would have been at ...
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.
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, demonstrate many different attitudes and perceptions towards marriage. Some of these ideas are very traditional, such as that illustrated in the Franklin’s Tale. On the other hand, other tales present a liberal view, such as the marriages portrayed in the Miller’s and The Wife of Bath’s tales. While several of these tales are rather comical, they do indeed depict the attitudes towards marriage at that time in history. D.W. Robertson, Jr. calls marriage "the solution to the problem of love, the force which directs the will which is in turn the source of moral action" (Robertson, 88). "Marriage in Chaucer’s time meant a union between spirit and flesh and was thus part of the marriage between Christ and the Church" (Bennett, 113). The Canterbury Tales show many abuses of this sacred bond, as will be discussed below.
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.
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.