Wife Of Bath Authority

The Medieval era was a period dominated with Christianity and assigned gender role that affected one social and political role within society most particularly the role accustoms to women who were assigned the roles of mother, wife and caretaker. The prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath portrays a complex narrator who argues against the societal roles of women as submissive while also exposing her marriage and sexual life in which during her time would be frown upon. By challenging the stereotypical role of a medieval woman by defying a male-dominated society the narrator uses this authority to empower women. The narrators open the prologue stating that her auctorite does not come from possessing authority but rather that her story

While both definition draws on the power and rights that an authority possess, auctorite places an emphasizes on authority in the form of theory or a written statement whereas the modern definition places authority on an authoritative person. Despite the differences both are seen within The Wife of Bath’s Prologue. The narrator argues her claim by referencing the difference between authority and experiences to argue her main points in the prologue. The narrator begins the Prologue stating “of husbands at the church door I’ve had five” (line 5). She uses her five marriages as her justification of expertise about marriage. The narrator’s authority does not come from possessing power but from her knowledge and personal experiences from marriages. Despite stating that she would use her knowledge to guide her arguments she often refers to authoritative text to support her argument. Where the narrator sees nothing inappropriate in her five marriages citing the Biological story of King

What sets the fourth husband apart from the other previous husband is the struggle of power and space. The narrator gains control over the first three husband within the confine of a domestic sphere however, with the fourth husband, the narrator gains control outside the domestic sphere and from the public sphere. The narrator gains a different control liberating herself into the public space that is a male dominated space. The Bible becomes the narrator main source of authority in which she reasons her argument. Through the Bible, the narrator justifies multiple marriages and argues against societal belief of one marriage. Despite drawing on authoritative text to support her reasoning, the narrator also draws on the setback of such religion thoughts and interpretation of authoritative texts such as the Bible. She argues against male’s interpretation of the Bible more importantly in interpreting the story of the Samaritan and argues that the Bible does not address how many marriage is acceptable but states that God wants women to “bestow the flower of life in all acts of fruits of being a wife” in that they should grow and multiple (Line