Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is comprised of several different tales being told by various narrators, such as The Miller’s Tale and the The Wife of Bath’s Prologue. First, The Miller’s Tale is part of “a genre known as “fabliau”: a short story in verse that deals satirically, often grossly and fantastically as well as hilariously, with intrigues and deceptions about sex or money” (Chaucer 264). This tale involves a carpenter, the carpenter’s wife, Alisoun, a poor astrology student, Nicholas, and a church clerk, Absolon, where the wife and the student try to keep their relationship a secret from her husband, while the clerk pines for the her. Second, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue consists of a woman who “asserts her female “experience” …show more content…
She tells about her different marriages she has had since the age of twelve and the control that she has over her husbands. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale, it consists of King Arthur, Arthur’s queen, a knight, and a older woman. In both tales, Alisoun and the Wife of Bath are similar in their disregard for their husbands, but they do contrast in how they are portrayed, power they have over men, and whether or not they had committed adultery. Both Alisoun and the Wife of Bath have a similarity both disregarding their husbands. First, Alisoun does not have any respect for her husband, John, when she makes the decision to have an affair with another man. For example, “Nicholas gan mercy for to crye, /And spak so faire, and profred him so faste, / That she hir love him graunted ate laste…” (Chaucer 268). She does not even think of her husband when she makes the decision when she grants Nicholas her love. Also, Alisoun does not take into consideration of how her actions with Nicholas can affect her marriage with John. There …show more content…
The Wife of Bath is much older than the carpenter’s wife. Alisoun is described as “Fair was this younge wif, and therwithal / As any weasel hir body gent and smal” (Chaucer 267). She is young, around the age of eighteen and her body is slim and small similar to a weasel. Alisoun’s age makes her seem naive in comparison to the Wife of Bath who is much more experienced than her, such as in marriage and love, in which the Wife of Bath who was young when she first married is onto her fifth husband, who is twenty years old, by the age of forty (Chaucer 295). Also, the Wife of Bath is more open about how many times she was been married. For instance, she states, “Housbondes at chirch dore I have had five,” but she does mention in the third stanza in the prologue that it won’t be her last when she says “Welcome the sixte whan that evere he shall” (Chaucer 282). She is not ashamed that she has had that many husbands in a span of twenty plus years. Next, the Wife of Bath is seen as a woman that has had power over her husbands. For example, she states, “I governed hem so wel after my lawe” which depicts the control she had over them in their marriages and she treats them how she sees fit (Chaucer 287). In contrast to Alisoun who does not exert any power over Nicholas or her
Some say women can get the worst out of a man, but in The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1485, proves it. The tales were originally written as a collection of twenty four tales, but has been narrowed down to three short tales for high school readers. The three tales consist of “The Miller”, “The Knight”, and “The Wife of Bath” along with their respective prologues. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer shows the weak but strong role of women throughout the “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” to contrast different human characteristics and stereotypes on the spectrum of people.
Shead, Jackie. "'The wife of bath's tale' as self-revelation: Jackie Shead discusses how far the Wife's Tale perpetuates the picture we have gained of her from her Prologue." The English Review Feb. 2010: 35+. General OneFile. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
In the Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer illustrates the different perspective between men and women on the concept of marriage and love. In The Wife of Bath’s tale, it is shown the woman appreciating marriage and wanting to be able to love a man unconditionally as where in The Miller’s Tale, love isn’t anything, but sex with the man in the story. In accordance with Chaucer, the complication with marriage is that men are consumed by sexual desire and are easily abused by women like The Wife of Bath. As noticed, The Miller’s Tale is all about adultery. “Just like men, the wives have secrets, as does God”, says the Miller. Both have information that the other do not know about that are sacred and better left unsaid.
The “Wife of Bath’s Prologue” shows that Alisoun was empowered by the ability use her sexuality. As she introduces her tale, Alisoun makes it clear that she sees marriage as a way to gain money and status, “Of fyve husbondes
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, an eclectic mix of people gathers together at Tabard Inn to begin a pilgrimage to Canterbury. In the General Prologue, the readers are introduced to each of these characters. Among the pilgrims are the provocative Wife of Bath and the meek Pardoner. These two characters both demonstrate sexuality, in very different ways. Chaucer uses the Wife and the Pardoner to examine sexuality in the medieval period.
The ’Wife of Bath’s Prologue’ raises the question of marriage. The marriage and the role of wife have momentous status in the Middle Ages. It embodies many patriarchal values which creates a full medieval culture and society. Lee Patterson argues that some historicist readings of Wife of Bath see medieval marriage as a thoroughly inhumane system, ”organized by males to serve economic and political ends, with the woman treated as a useful, child bearing appendage to the land or goods being exchanged.” (Beidle 138) This reading means that the marriage is no more as important, sacred and precious as people think that was to be at that time. It destroys the society, decreases the intimacy and highlights the importance of property and wealth in the Middle Ages. The Wife speaks about her memories of the past. She expresses nostalgia with her words. She tells that she has five husbands, three of them were old but rich and the other two are younger. On the one hand, the three older husbands provided her strong financial...
The Wife of Bath, with the energy of her vernacular and the voraciousness of her sexual appetite, is one of the most vividly developed characters of 'The Canterbury Tales'. At 856 lines her prologue, or 'preambulacioun' as the Summoner calls it, is the longest of any of the pilgrims, and matches the General Prologue but for a few lines. Evidently Chaucer is infatuated with Alisoun, as he plays satirically with both gender and class issues through the Wife's robust rhetoric. Scholars and students alike have continued this obsession with her, and as a consequence Chaucer's larger than life widow has been subject to centuries of scrutiny. Indeed, she is in the vast minority amongst the Canterbury bound pilgrims; apart from the in-vogue Prioress she is the only female - though she appears in no way daunted by the apparent inequality in numbers. It seems almost a crime to examine masculinity in her prologue and tale, but as I hope to show, there is much to learn both about the Wife and about Chaucer from this male presence.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is an important part of his most famed work, The Canterbury Tales. One of the most respected highly analyzed of all of the tales, this particular one is important both for its character development and its prevailing themes. It seamlessly integrates ideas on society at that time with strong literary development. This work stands the test of time both because of its literary qualities and because of what it can teach us about the role of women in late Medieval society.
The main character, Alison, or the wife of Bath, is representative of most of the feminist ideals in the work. She is strong, independent, and to be respected as a woman of great courage. Alison has suffered a great deal in her lifetime, indicative of life for women at this time. She has survived five husbands; some of whom beat her, others were unfaithful. She was married off at an early age of twelve and from then on knew what marriage was about: money. "Marriage is the key to survival, and that is what Alisoun seeks and finds" (Carruthers 214), argues Mary Carruthers, justifying Alison's five marriages. Alison equates money with power. With this power comes respect and honor.
Upon choosing a punishment, the knight lets the woman choose. Therefore, the decision is in favor of the woman rule. That event turned the tables where usually a man would rule with sovereignty, and were now under the control of women. Therefore, it turns the world upside down. The character, Alisoun, in The Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale, is proud of who she is.
The Wife of Bath’s insecurity and cynicism are just two of the ways in which she fulfils negative stereotypes of women. She tries to separate herself from other women of her time by taking control of her life by means of sex, but if she were truly progressive, she would have found a way to elevate herself without using her body. Alisoun is exactly what men fear and dislike about women; she is promiscuously sneaky, and she takes advantage of men. This is why while trying to present herself as strong and independent, her actions ultimately confirm misogynistic stereotypes of women; in the end, she is even more digressive to the cause feminism than a normal woman would be.
In her prologue the wife of Bath's talked about her five marriages, and how she gained sovereignty over all of her husband. She claimed by giving woman the power, marriage will be more better. On the other hand all of her husbands of whom she had power form eventually died. Although the wife of bath's always speak of her mastery and her skill in gaining sovereignty over her husband. Her fifth husband, who she really loved, did not give in easily. He used to beat her and he also reads to her from the book that he wrote about how the woman are wicked and how they are easy to get.
The Canterbury Tales is more than an amusing assortment of stories; it is an illustration of the society in which Geoffrey Chaucer lived. It portrays the culture and class system of the medieval ages in microcosm. Every strata of human life at the time were represented by the many characters whose tales are told. Each character’s basic human nature also plays a role in their stories, and each one has within them the strengths and weaknesses that make up all of humanity. Each character exemplifies their life and reputation through the stories they tell. The Pardoner uses his tale as a ploy to garner money. His tale embodies each deadly sin, and every reader can relate to his story and feel the guilt of his characters. The Wife of Bath’s tale expresses her own ideals in the way her character is given a second chance after committing a crime. The Franklin’s tale, because of its straightforwardness and honesty is a direct representation of the Franklin’s simple and joyful life. Each character tells a tale that is a suitable match to their personality. These characters’ tales represent prevalent themes of the middle ages, including greed, corruption of religious clergymen, violence, revenge, and social status. In Chaucer’s society, the traditional feudal system was losing its importance and the middle class began to emerge. The middle class characters within the Canterbury Tales, with their personal lives and interactions with members of differing social classes, gave an understanding of the growth of society, especially the rising middle class, during medieval times.
In the Wife of Bath, the Wife’s prologue is very lengthy and has her information about her life. The prologue explains the Wife’s theories about experiences versus authority. The Wife of Bath have already had five husband, which means she had enough experience on marriage to make her an expert. She is not ashamed of her life or marriages and feels she should not be criticize for her behavior. The Wife reference several biblical quotes to justify her views and explains she does not feel God should punish those who marry more than once. As the prologue goes on, the Wife of Bath describes her marriages and tells what women most desire in their relationship. The thing that women most desire is to have complete control over their husbands.
In the Wife of Bath’s prologue readers begin to see a glimpse of how strong-willed this woman is, especially as she speaks about her beliefs regarding the Bible. At line 35, she says “Lo, here the wise king daun Salomon:/I trowe he hadde wives many oon,” indicating that she is well read and able to defend her five marriages using evidence from the Bible. The Wife is also sex-positive as she believes that if God had not wanted people to have sex, then they would not have the parts for it and she can find no evidence in the Bible