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Chaucer’s portrayal of the Wife of Bath is a reversal of the meek maiden of courtly love, instead she takes on the man’s stereotypical role in the courtship. This is especially obvious where Alyson speaks of love in relation to women as a group and how disinterest only makes women want that love object all the more. “Forbede us thyng, and that desiren we,” and they would “crie al day and crave,” she says, embodying the mad desire for the “thyng” that is the courted male’s love. [cite] Anne McTaggart says that the attitude the Wife “calls on the conventions of love allegory” and in doing so, puts herself in the “role of the wooing male” (McTaggart 49). This reversal serves a dual purpose. Not only showing the Wife’s rebellion against the system
In, “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” written by Benjamin Franklin (one of the Founding Fathers) in 1747, brought up the disparities that were between men and women within the judicial system. Also, “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” also briefly points out, how religion has been intertwined with politics. All throughout “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker,” Benjamin Franklin uses very intense diction and syntax to help support what he is trying to express to the rest of society. Also writing this speech in the view point of a women, greatly helps establish what he is trying to say. If Benjamin Franklin was to write it as a man, the speech my have not had the same passionate effect as it currently has.
Florence Kelley was a social and political reformer that fought for woman’s suffrage and child labor laws. Her speech to the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association initiated a call to action for the reform of child labor laws. She explains how young children worked long and exhausting hours during the night and how despicable these work conditions were. Kelley’s use of ethos, logos, pathos, and repetition helps her establish her argument for the reform of the child labor laws.
Marriage is the biggest and final step between two young people who love one another more than anything. In the marriage proposals by Charles Dickens and Jane Austen we are able to see two different reasons for marriage. While Dickens takes a more passionate approach, Austen attempts a more formal and logical proposal. Rhetorical strategies, such as attitude and diction, have a great impact on the effect the proposals have on the women.
I remember first reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte in ninth grade. I thought it was a wonderful love story between a smart, ambitious girl and a wealthy, conceited, handsome man. Now, as I go back and read the story again, I find more of what Bronte was trying to convey. She uses many different literary devices to enhance her work and aid in understanding such as diction, imagery, tone, and characterization.
...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.
The wife of bath told a tale about how there was this lady who was attractive and was walking down a path minding her business when a knight came alone and force himself on her. “From which maid, then, no matter what she said, by very force, he took her maidenhead; this oppressive violence caused such clamor.”(Chaucer. Page 701, lines 892- 895). This crime came with a punishment which involves him learning women deepest desire. “I grant you life, if you can tell to me what thing it is that women most desire.”(Chaucer. Page 702, lines 910-911.) On his journey, he ran into what seems like an old hag and ended up marrying her. The old hag was actually a magical woman who display herself as an old woman to teach the knight a lesson that looks isn’t everything. During this time, he seen the woman in her natural form and realize that he understood that all women want is control and power over their husbands. When it was time to step in front of the council he said “Women desire to have sovereignty as well over their husbands as their loves, and to be in mastery them above” (Chaucer. Page 704, lines 1043-1046). This answer was brought in front of the Judge granted him life. Later on in the tale his wife gave him an option to stay an old hag during the day and become a beautiful woman at night or become a hag at night and during the day become a beautiful woman. He said toward his wife “My lady and my love and wife so dear, I
Society was different in Chaucer's time; males dominated and women were suppressed. The manipulative and destructive nature of women was emphasized by men. Much like Eve in the Bible, women were blamed for the 'downfall of man'. Through the Wife of Bath, Chaucer investigates the difficulty of self-realization for a woman in this restrictive environment. The wife of bath, Alison, represents antifeminist stereotypes and searches for happiness and a place in a patriarchal society. Unfortunately, Alison is never in tune with who she really is as a woman. Chaucer uses a series of ironies to eventually show that under her seemingly confident guise, there hides the soul of a vulnerable, lost woman.
Courtly love is extremely evident throughout “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” and allows the development of each character within the plot. Courtly love was believed to be originated in France during the 12th century and eventually spreading to other countries in Europe, influencing authors, such as Geoffrey Chaucer, throughout. English courts, which handled marriages, practiced the art of courtly love from the 12th century to the 14th century, during which marriages were pre-arranged and had little to do with love. A marriage was not based on love, rather on what each participant brought to his or her spouse and families. As love and romance was not a portion of marriage, it became an acceptable practice to seek another romancer outside of the marriage, as long as the spouse adhered to the strict rules of chastity and fidelity (http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/courtly-love.htm). Furthermore, courtly love was only practiced between a man and woman of some sort of noble status, typically between...
love” makes evident Chaucer’s skewed views of love and marriage with underlying tones of misogyny. He expresses these views throughout the work, however, the theme of love and sex is most evident in the sub-stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale.
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.
This question arose for me as I read the Wife of Bath: was Chaucer criticizing overbearing wives, or was he depicting a strong woman who had found power and pleasure in the estate of the wife. Ultimately, Chaucer has left this to the interpretation of the reader.
In the prologue and tale of The Wife of Bath, the reader begins to see the main theme in Chaucer’s work. In the wife of bath’s prologue, she tells a story about a night when she and one of her husbands spent a night at home. In her telling of the story, she begins to tell that nightly, her husband would read to her from a book full of misogynistic material. On this particular night, the Wife of Bath was subjected to more of this book, and the reader is told of how the book explains that women are men’s downfall. The book sights many examples; one being the story of Adam and eve. In this book the author states that eve was the one who led Adam into o temptation; therefore making her his downfall, or the thing that lead to his later catastrophic problems. The wife of bath further illustrates that women are men’s downfall as she continues her story. She explains to the other travelers that this book angered and enraged her so much on that particular night that she struck her husband. Causing him to retaliate and strike her back in a fit of rage. When the wife of bathe explains these facts to her fellow travelers, she shows the reader that she, a woman, caused the downfall of usually caring and loving husband’s character. The information given in the wife of bath section of the story is substantiated throughout the rest of the work.
In the general prologue, Chaucer explains the Wife of Bath’s characteristics. He says, “She knew how to laugh and joke in company, and all the remedies of love, for her skill was great in that old game” (Chaucer 10). This particular description of the Wife of Bath shows that she knows, or thinks she knows, a lot about love. Although Chaucer uses “knew” in the quote, it does not mean that the Wife of Bath is the expert on love. Her marriages were shams and she only loved her fifth husband, who happened to beat her. She is not really an expert at love at all, more of an enthusiast. She likes the idea of being in love and being able to control the men she marries. She cannot control all of the men she marries, but she tries with all her being. The first three were simple to have power over, but the last two were a little more challenging.
For this reason, The Wife of Bath’s Tale is often praised; however, there are still glaring problems with this story and its conclusions about women. The main issue with this story is its conclusion where Chaucer uses incongruity to criticise the options society gives women in marriage. The positive and powerful message of a woman’s sovereignty over her life is contrasted and undercut by the old woman who bore the message. The end of the tale, seems to portray a man who has learned his lesson. Rather than making the choice of when his wife would be beautiful, he states, “I put myself in your wise governing;/ Choose yourself . . .” (Chaucer). The use of the word “governing” can be connected to the idea of sovereignty where the woman is the ruler of the relationship. This would suggest that the knight has heeded the woman’s lesson; however, the use of the imperative with the word “Choose” is commanding which suggests the knight still holds the power. The tone the knight uses changes from submissive to demanding within one line. Not only is this positive development of knight learning the value of a woman’s choice undercut by the tone of the knight, but it is also undercut by the ultimate decision of the Old woman. The Old woman decides to transform permanently into a beautiful and young woman. Rather than having to sacrifice anything, the Knight gets everything he wants because his will aligns with his wife’s. The reader can assume that the Knight’s choice would be for the wife to be beautiful always because he is repulsed by her when she is an old woman and he raped a young and beautiful woman, suggesting that that is what he wants and is attracted to in a partner. The knight gets both the honor of having a beautiful wife during the day and the gratification of having an alluring wife at night, all with the
However, Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath to invite us to think about the inequalities shaped in the institution of marriage that produce bad behavior. The Wife of Bath becomes a social advocate for women through her experiences.