Women In The Canterbury Tales

The Representation of Medieval Women In The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer, and English writer and civil servant, began writing his most famous work The Canterbury Tales in 1386 (Chaucer iii). The story is about a group of pilgrims who journey together to Canterbury to seek the shrines of St. Thomas á Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was killed by order of Henry II in 1170 (1). During this pilgrimage, each character is introduced and is given a chance to tell a story to pass the time. In “The Knight’s Tale,” and “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue,” Chaucer represents two very different type of medieval women by representing women who differ in power over men and virtues. In “The Knight’s Tale,” Chaucer describes a woman’s power over men as residing in her beauty. The story is told by a courageous and chivalrous knight who lives by a code of “truth, honour, freedom, and all courtesy,” (Chaucer 2), therefore, he represents women in a respectable way. He does through the description of his main female character. He describing her as, “[S]he is sweeter than any flower that blows,” (31) and, “Like a heavenly angel’s was her song,” (32). Emily is young and beautiful and her beauty makes men immediately fall in love with her. In the tale, two Theban cousins were imprisoned by Emily's brother in law, Thesëus, after a battle in Thebes, and

The Wife of Bath does mention that she was once good-looking and this, like with Emily in “The Knight’s Tale,” attracted many pursuers. Unlike Emily, however, The Wife of Bath’s appearance is described, by the other pilgrims, as beign “Gap toothed…as broad as is a buckler or a targe.... and her buttocks large,” (Chaucer 15). The Wife of Bath still has a power over men, but not because of her natural appearance and more because of her sexual prowess, outlandish dress and her provocative