The Wife Of Bath The Prioress Analysis

In the canterbury tales we are introduced to a wide variety of interesting characters. Each of the storytellers have an entertaining yet very ironic tale that hold a very subtle but intriguing set of themes that Mr Chaucer has set forth in them. The characters that I find the most intriguing are The Wife of Bath and The Prioress Due to the fact that both these women are polar opposites in the sense that they both live completely different lives and see the world in very ways.

The Wife of Bath is a very interesting women because of her past and how Chaucer goes into deep detail about her appearance which somewhat implies that The Wife of Bath could actually have been a real person. She is described to be a beautiful women with a gap between her two front teeth which at during this time was seen as attractive.The Wife of Bath represents our

modern cultureʻs very sexualized attitude towards women and how the media and music industry makes money because sex sells. Her clothes were also mentioned to be made of fine linen and her shoes were described as soft fresh leather. “ In marriage i'll use my equipment as freely as my maker sent it” (Chaucer, 149-50). The Wife of Bath has a large amount of experience under her belt both in sex and love. She often uses her body as a bargaining chip when she needs to but she seems to have power over men from it. “ A wise women will concentrate on getting that love which she does not possess; but since i had them wholly in my hand, and since they had given me all their land, why should i take pains to please them, unless it should be for my own profit and pleasure? (Chaucer, 209-15). This quote shows how The Wife of Bath is has used her body to control her husband's so that she could gain land and wealth.
The Prioress is a very quiet and kind women who is simple and coy. She is described to have thin red lips, blue eyes, a perfect nose, a broad forehead, and a red coral rosary. she speaks french very elegantly and sings a divine service in a most beautiful note. “O mother maid, O gracious maiden mother, O bush unconsumed, burning in moses sight, who ravished down from the deity, by your humility, the spirit who alighted within you, the wisdom of the father was conceived:”(Chaucer 15-20). This is in the beginning of the prioressʻs tale and it shows us how dedicated this women is to her faith by giving us this very religious quote. “ a community of jews maintained by the lord of that country for purposes of foul usury and filthy lucre, hateful to christ and his followers; and through their street people might ride or walk, for it was free and open at either end”(Chaucer 2-7). In the Prioressʻs tale, the story is intertwined with anti semitism as it has the Jews living in segregated Ghettos. A jewish boy is murdered in the tale and no one bats an eye except for his mother because he is of Jewish descent.
The Wife of Bath and the Prioress are both interesting characters that have many similarities and differences.

We have the Wife of Bath who is a self centered manipulative whore that is in the pursuit of her own pleasure at the expense of whichever poor soul is foolish enough to go crawling between her legs . And then there is the Prioress who is a very modest and holly women whoʻs gentle heart can easily be over encumbered by the sight of a suffering or dead animal. A similarity Both of these women have extravagant living as Chaucer describes them both as loving of extravagance and fine living. “leave off for no man, and teach us young men some of your practice. gladly said she, since it may please you”(Chaucer 187-89). this quote shows us the whorish side of the Wife as she agrees to “teach” these young men her practice. “O dear child I beseech thee, by the power of the holy trinity, tell me what causes you to sing, for your throat has been cut as far as I can see”(Chaucer 158-61). This quote shows the faith of the prioress as her tale has a little boy whose throat is cut and he is still able to sing because god is

powerful.
In conclusion both of these characters are magnificent creations that chaucer has whipped up for us to delve ourselves into and further understand. Even though one may be more wholesome or holy than the other they both had amazing stories that were filled with all kinds of themes and sub themes to enhance the reader's experience. Whether it was the Wife of Bathʻs implying us to not be lustful and not use others, or the Prioress showing us that all you need is to have complete faith in yourself and what you're doing