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Wife of bath prologue summary
The wife of bath prologue analysis
The wife bath tale summary
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The Wife’s Bath Prologue was written by Jeffery Chaucer. This story grabs your attention immediately. The wife of Bath is a woman who seems to be very experienced in love and sex. She has been married five different times and she’s also had affairs. She is described as having a gap between her teeth which back then that was attractive. The Wife of Bath is on a mission to find her sixth and hopefully final husband.
This story is written in a very magical but tragic time. The King Arthur days of Isle in Britain had fairies and elves. They have been taken over by friars and the friars rape women. The friars are dishonorable to women. The Wife of Bath describes Incubi as a rapist and intentionally gets innocent women pregnant.
King Arthur has a rapist in his court. A young good looking knight rapes an innocent maiden. The knight is said to be put to death by decapitation. The queen and other ladies intervene and come up with a different plan for punishment. The Queen would like to send the knight on a challenge. She wants him to find out what a woman wants most in the world. If the knight cannot figure the correct answer out in one year he shall be decapitated.
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The Knight then leaves the Queen and heads on his mission.
He asks every woman he sees what they would want most in the world. Each woman had a different answer. Some women want money, some want sex and some want to be free. The Knight heads home with no good answer. On his journey back home he comes across a group of beautiful women. As the knight approaches closer he only sees an ugly older woman. The woman asks if she can help with knight with anything. The knight then asked the old ugly women what a woman wants most in the world. The old lady responds by saying he must pledge his life to her if he wants her help. The knight has no other option but to agree with the old
woman. They travel back to the court where the Queen awaits. The Knight tells the Queen what the old lady has said. Women want to be in charge of their husbands and lovers. All of the women agree that is the correct answer. The Knight avoided his decapitation. The old woman then asks the Knight to marry her. He tries to reason with her but the old lady refuses. The Knight has to keep his to keep his promise, so he marries the old ugly woman. The night they were married the lady asks the Knight he was so sad. The Knight said he was embarrassed to have such and old ugly wife. She tells him she can be loyal and ugly or young and unfaithful. The Knight tells her to do what she thinks is right. The woman agrees with that answer so she becomes beautiful and obedient. She is faithful to her husband and they have a long, happy marriage. This story shows us that looks are not everything. The knight was most likely a pretty handsome man but he was a rapist. The old woman was described as an ugly hag but she was loyal and a good person. This story is a great lesson as to why people should not judge others by their outside appearance. This story shows us we should get to know someone before being so judgmental.
In the story of Dame Ragnell and "The Wife of Bath's Tale," the men in question are in a very serious predicament. The knight in "The Wife of Bath's Tale" gets into his predicament by raping a young maiden. In "Dame Ragnell," King Arthur is accused of giving Sir Gawain land that belongs to someone else, Gromer Somer Joure. Their crimes are completely different, yet they still warrant similar punishment. Although the reason that each character is in his situation is a glaring difference between the two stories, in both cases the character's lives are at stake because of something they have done. In order to be saved from death they must answer a question: "To shewe me at thy coming whate wemen love best in feld and town." (Ragnell 91-92) This is what King Arthur is asked by Gromer Somer Joure in the story of Dame Ragnell. In "The Wife of Bath's Tale," we can see the question is worded differently. The Queen says to the knight: "I graunte thee lif if thou canst tellen me what thing it is that wommen most desiren." (Bath 910-911) Although there is a slight difference in the wording of the question in each tale, each still has the same idea: What is it that women want the most? In both stories the main characters, the knight, in "The Wife of Bath's Tale" and King Arthur in, the story of Dame Ragnell, search out the answer to this question.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.” From The Riverside Chaucer, Third Edition. Ed. Larry D. Benson. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
In the tale that Geoffrey Chaucer had wrote, The Wife of Bath’s Tale, a man was described as a Knight. This Knight wasn’t like any normal Knight, he messed up and raped a girl. This is a big mistake, giving a lot of Knights a bad name, and having those that look up to them start to be disappointed in them. Usually the punishment that is given to those that rape, or in general any other crime, is death or time in the slammer, however, the Queen says no because he is a good looking guy. Instead of death, he had find out what women most desire from men. He is given a year and a day to find out, and on the last day, when he nearly had given up all hope, he sees an old woman in a field who makes a deal with him. The old lady gives the Knight a choice: to have an old, but faithful, wife, or to have a drop-dead gorgeous woman, but to have her never to be faithful, before she tells him what the Queen wants to know. The old lady and Knight get married and she wants him to sleep with her, like husbands are supposed to do with their wives. They argue and she gives him the two choices again; to have an ugly wife, but she is faithful. The other choice is to have a drop-dead gorgeous wife, but is never faithful. With this, he learns a lesson, and sufficient punishment.
knight on a horse to come rescue and provide for her as well as the acceptance of women
First, the knight is giving two choices by the old woman; either he can pick her or someone else. The old woman’s actual words were “’You have two choices: which one will you try? To have me old and ugly till I die, but still a loyal, true and humble wife or would you rather I were young and pretty and chance your arm what happens in a city where friends will visit you because of me, yes, and in other places too, maybe. Which would you have? The choice is all your own.’” ([Prentice Hall Literature] page 149 lines 365-373). For the knight, this is a simple answer which he throws the question back at the old women, saying that you pick for me. Giving her the power to c...
A knight rides into the hall dressed entirely in green. The knight is large, well- dressed, and imposing, but he does not wear armor nor carry a shield. Rather, he holds some holly in one hand and a huge ax in the other. The Green Knight, without first introducing himself, demands to speak with whoever is the head of the court. King Arthur answers the Green Knight’s call to the head of the company and asks him to dismount and eat. However, the Knight refuses, saying that he does not intend to stay. He tells Arthur that his court is reputed to be the best and worthiest in the land, and so he has come there with a challenge. He says that he has not come in war, as proved by his lack of armor, but rather to propose a challenge. He will allow someone to strike him with his ax, as long as they agree to find him in one year to accept the return blow.
The Wife of Bath and the Fairy Queen are controlling in their relationships with men. The Wife believes a happy match is one in which the woman has control and sovereignty over the man. In her prologue she tells of her husbands and how she always had control over them, it was a necessity for her to enjoy life. The norm in society was for the wife to submit to her husband, as clearly stated in the Bible; the wife denied this and ran her life apart from the norm. The Wife’s tale clarifies her belief that women should control the man in a marriage. In her tale, a knight is given one year in which to figure out what women want most in a marriage. Toward the end of the year, the knight talks to an old woman who says she will give him the answer if he will grant her one request. The old woman gives the knight his answer “Wommen desire to have sovereinetee as wel over hir housbonde as hir love, and for to been in mais...
In the Middle Ages, when The Canterbury Tales was written, society became captivated by love and the thought of courtly and debonair love was the governing part of all relationships and commanded how love should be conducted. These principles changed literature completely and created a new genre dedicated to brave, valorous knights embarking on noble quests with the intention of some reward, whether that be their life, lover, or any other want. The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, accurately portrays and depicts this type of genre. Containing a collection of stories within the main novel, only one of those stories, entitled “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, truly outlines the 14th century community beliefs on courtly love.
Despite the fact that this lady was supposedly untouchable due to her status as “taken” this man or rather knight made it his mission to win her over or it was his mission to please her. This Knight would go to great lengths sometimes setting into long journeys, battling other knights and going into chivalric adventures in what is known as the other world. This knight or the courtly lover is like a slave to this passionate, romantic love for example in the tale “Le Chevalier de la charrette”, a courtly romance whose hero obeys every imperious and unreasonable demand of the heroine. A slave willing to put his own life at risk in order to show his love and passion for this one woman. For example, In “Lancelot, the Knight of Cart” Lancelot first part is a physical quest though driven by love, the knight tries to rescue Guinevere. However, once he finds her, he does not stop, he continued to quest in order to deserve her love. Even after they consummate their relationship in the tower, he must continue to do her bidding, suggesting that the quest for love never ceases. We see this untouchable love through his love and adulterous feelings for the queen, Lady Guinevere, this lady made untouchable through her marriage to King
Sustaining his excursion for the answer, the knight stumbles across an elderly woman who coincidently possesses the answer. Cunningly, aware of his fatal fortune, she barters the answer for her unannounced request, furthermore, succumbing to the generalization of manipulation and deceitfulness. Agreeing to her conditions, the knight relays the answer to the kingdom expressing women most desire sovereignty over their husbands and lovers. Detrimentally, this stereotypes women’s profound desire as domination over their husbands. Solely owning control of personal actions and free will should never be infringed, however, if this occurs, the relationship is unequal, relinquishing control to one person. Assuming all women desire this dominion over their husbands, instead of themselves, is disrespectfully radical. Satirically addressing fresh enlightenment on these generalizations of women, invite understanding and awareness to the
My favorite story I read this year was “The Canterbury Tales.” I really liked this story because it was very interesting. This story takes place in the Middle Ages. My two favorite characters are the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner. I want to read this story again.
“The noble knight slays the dragon and rescues the fair maiden…and they live happily ever after.” This seemingly cliché finale encompasses all the ideals of courtly love, which began in the Medieval Period and still exists today. While these ideals were prevalent in medieval society, they still existed with much controversy. Geoffrey Chaucer, a poet of the period, comments on courtly love in his work The Canterbury Tales. Through the use of satiric elements and skilled mockery, Chaucer creates a work that not only brought courtly love to the forefront of medieval society but also introduced feministic ideals to the medieval society. At times, Chaucer even makes readers question his beliefs by presenting contrasting elements of principle in The Knight’s Tale and The Wife of Bath’s Tale, both tales told in his profound, multifaceted The Canterbury Tales.
The Merchant tells a tale of a prosperous knight from Lombardy who had not yet taken a wife. But when this knight, January, had turned sixty, whether out of devotion or dotage, he decided to finally be married. He searched for prospects, now convinced that the married life was a paradise on earth. Yet his brother, Placebo, cited...
The knight in the tale had no choice but to submit to the sovereignty of the old hag. If the knight was a little smarter and did his homework in trying to say, "Hey, how does this old hag know the answer to what women most desire? She’s probably never been with a man before!" The knight was ...
In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer opens describing twenty-nine people who are going on a pilgrimage. Each person has a dissimilar personality that we can recognize from the way people behave today. He creates The Wife of Bath to stand out more compared to the other characters that are involved in these stories. In Chaucer’s “General Prologue,” the Wife of Bath was described as a woman who was intentionally described in an obvious way to provoke a shocking response. The Wife carries a lot of experience with things; she is a worldly person and has experience in the ways of the world in a sense of love and sex. Her clothes, physical features and references to her past are intentionally discussed by Chaucer causing the reader to wonder how well she is such a flamboyant and extravagant character. She shows off her clothes with evident pride, her face is wreathed in heavy cloth, her stockings are a fine scarlet color, and the leather in her shoed is soft and fresh. Her clothing symbolizes to the reader that she is not fearful or shy, and also shows off her expertise as a weaver.