The Role of Women in The Canterbery Tales
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 represents the "liberal" extreme in regards to female stereotypes of the Middle Ages. Unlike most women being anonymous during the Middle Ages, she has a mind of her own and voices herself. Furthermore, she thinks extremely highly of herself and enjoys showing off her Sunday clothes whenever the opportunity arises. She intimidates men and women alike due to the power she possesses. Because of her obnoxious attitude Chaucer makes her toothless, fat and large. Doubtlessly, she is very ugly, almost to the point of "not-presentable. This to me shows how Chaucer depicts what men don't want. The Prioress, on the other hand, serves as a foil to the Wife of Bath. Chaucer describes her as "tender-hearted" who cannot bear the sight of pain or physical suffering. She will cry at the thought of a dog dying. It could represent that she has a frail soul with low tolerance for pain and suffering. The latter description carries over into the modern stereotypes about women as skittish and afraid members of society who need to be cared for.
To begin with, in order to fully comprehend the question being asked one must have an understanding of Jacksonian principles as well as who Andrew Jackson was. Jacksonian Democracy is defined as "the political movement toward greater democracy for the common man." In and of itself the definition applies to "the common man" so from the start there is a principle that Jackson will promote as president that lives up to the period's characterization. Jackson was born in 1767 in Waxhaw, South Carolina, to Scotch-Irish immigrants. Andrew Jackson as a man was a military leader who led the Americans to victory in the battle of New Orleans and was later elected president in 1828. With this key victory Jackson was viewed not only as a leader but as a hero by his nation. History has seen this occur in the past with the election of the first president of the United States, George Washington whop was also a great military leader viewed as a hero due to significant victories in the "first" American Revolution. "In a confused, four-candidate presidential race in 1824, Jackson led the popular and electoral vote but lost in the House of Representatives to John Quincy Adams through the influence of Speaker Henry Clay. Jackson challenged Adams again in 1828 ...
...ile the 1950’s aspect of the film forms a sense of nostalgia for the past. This nostalgia is consistent with Reagan’s 1980s political outlook. Reagan had a 1950s conservative rhetoric, as he promoted gender roles and traditional values. However, 1950s Lorraine rebels against these ideals by being assertive, smoking, and drinking. People of that time rebelled against Reaganite politics by referring to the rebelliousness parts of 1980s teen movies. Thus producing a visualization of American rebelliousness challenging authority and power. Overall, the movie prefers to promote newness and youngness. For example, the school dance is a critical part of the movie where Marty has to make his parent fall in love. Americans prefer to collaborate themselves with those ideas. The movie demonstrates America as a place of renewal by putting teen culture right in the spotlight.
The way Jackson ran the government is the first reason why Andrew Jackson was not very democratic. It was great at first, but slowly went downward. In document 2, people traveled five hundred miles just to see him, thinking he'll save the country from danger. No one has ever seemed anything like it before. In document 3, a cartoon appeared in the presidential election of 1832. The cartoon is Andrew dressing up as a king than a president. On the sides of the cartoon it says, "Born to command", "King Andrew the first", and etc.
The 1820’s and 1830’s mark an era when the Jacksonian Democrats reigned supreme in American government. Led by President Andrew Jackson, the Democrats appealed to the common man and worked towards helping the general populace. The Jacksonians regarded themselves as the guardians of the Constitution and individual liberties, however, the Jacksonian Democrats did not act accordingly. They infringed upon the Constitution, exploited political democracy, tainted individual liberties, but at times defended economic opportunities.
In The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the stereotypes and roles in society are reexamined and made new through the characters in the book. Chaucer discusses different stereotypes and separates his characters from the social norm by giving them highly ironic and/or unusual characteristics. Specifically, in the stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale, Chaucer examines stereotypes of women and men and attempts to define their basic wants and needs.
Although the “Age of Jackson” wasn’t a time era, which brought forth a great political, social, or economic freedom and equality to the U.S., it did in fact put our country through a metamorphosis in our political lives of the nation. The start of a new presidency (Jackson’s presidency) was accompanied by huge numbers of Hickoryites (Jacksonian supporters) and official hopefuls. Many of these hopefuls were granted their desire of holding office, which is one of the changes brought into Washington by Andrew Jackson.
One of the finest military heroes during the War of 1812, and an independent and diligent man, Andrew Jackson left a permanent influence upon American politics and presidency after he sworn in as the seventh President of the United States on March 4th, 1829. Within the eight years of presidency, Jackson engendered a potent and corrupt political party, which was composed of his supporters during the election of 1828. Consequently, his provocative and controversial behavior in office aroused his adversaries to organize the Whig party, which strongly opposed Jackson’s economic, political, and social views during his presidency. Since Jackson and the Congress did not agree with each other’s views quite often, his drive for synthesizing political
George Henry Evans details this sentiment in ‘The Working Man’s Declaration of Independence.” Jacksonian Democrats demonstrated their allegiance to the working class and farmers by supporting working class people to become politically engaged. During the 1920’s and 30’s there was an expansion of political participation – including a spoils system - beyond landowning whites that increased white male suffrage and expanded political participation to nominating state electors. This phenomenon was detailed by Harriet Martineau, a British Author who wrote in 1837 about her visit to America in 1832. She was amazed that the grand experiment in America was whether the common man could govern himself, or if the elite class of aristocrats must do it for them (Doc D). According to the Jacksonians, the answer was perfectly clear. The working class deserved their voice to be heard. Jacksonians Democrats opinion in this regard was also apparent in their view of the National
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 details of society in that day in age, as well as, his detailed information of the Wife of Bath encompassed values in which women still admire today. Women still seek to have a more powerful role in society, even though still today there is a struggle to reach the top. Still today, the perfection you bring to your personal appearance gets your farther in life. Finally, when the reliance in the Bible and how still to this day church and state combine ideas, having a knowledge of the stories in the Bible shows a woman that is full of morals, values, and a good standard of living. Because of all of this, the Wife of Bath showed many sides of herself that may be hard to believe but yet still the backbone of all of it, is what most women try to do with their lives: be stable, powerful, happy, beautiful, and good morals.
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 character of the Wife of Bath in Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Prologue is a strong woman who knows what she wants from life. She is ahead of her time, seeing that women who portrayed themselves the way she does were not necessarily looked positively upon. In this sense, I believe that the Wife of Bath is a feminist. When I use the word feminist I do not mean bra-burning, men hating feminist. I mean a woman who is in touch with herself. She is her own genre when it comes to feminism. She is comfortable with her sexuality and what she wants from life. Through Chaucer, she is viewed as a promiscuous; however, she is actually in control of her sexual adventures.
The Wife of Bath is a complex character-she is different from the way she represents herself. Maybe not even what she herself thinks she is. On the surface, it seems as though she is a feminist, defending the rights and power of women over men. She also describes how she dominates her husband, playing on a fear that was common to men. From a point of view of a man during that time period, she seemed to illustrate all of the wrongs that men found in women. Such as a weak parody of what men, then saw as feminists. The Wife of Bath constantly emphasizes the negative implications of women throughout the ages. She describes women as greedy, controlling, and dishonest.
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.
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.