Geoffrey Chaucer portrays women in The Canterbury Tales as empowered, dominant characters who strive for sovereignty over their husbands. Particularly in The Wife of Bath’s Tale, and The Prioress’s Tale, Chaucer provides female characters who desire authority and seem to be self-entitled. After reading The Canterbury Tales, it becomes obvious that women not only desire a man, but are also longing for control over the elements present in their life. The women typically enjoy the feeling of love that marriage provides for them, but relish the control and power that comes along with it. The Wife of Bath had been married five times and explains that in each marriage she was the authoritative figure. In the Prioress’s Tale she is portrayed as a
Chaucer’s view of women in his novels is a highly controversial topic. It seems as though Chaucer portrayed women as strong-willed, powerful characters who were not afraid to speak their mind and come out on top. However, Chaucer also depicted women as evil, egocentric individuals who are prone to dominate over the people around them. The male characters in the novel put value on courtly love and knighthood, but we see a contrast in the female characters who value money and power. In The Canterbury Tales, we are introduced to many different female characters, in the following paragraphs we will focus on several tales and take a closer look at how they represent women’s desire for money and power, and how these desires compare to the male characters in the
Chaucer explains, “Ther was also a none, a prioresse, that of hir smiling was ful simple and coy” (Chaucer 7). The Prioress “soong the service divine” and “Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly” (Chaucer 7). The nun, very proper, only swears by “Seinte Loy” or in other words, she rarely curses. She strives to maintain her manners at the dinner table, letting “no morsal from hir lippes falle,” (Chaucer 7). In the General Prologue, Chaucer gives a fairly appealing portrait of the Prioress, explaining her love for animals, even saying that “she wolde wepe, of that she saugh a mous kaught in a trappe” (Chaucer 8). Chaucer referenced the nun’s fine features saying, “hire nose tretys, hir eyen greye as glas, hir mouth ful small, and therto softe and reed” (Chaucer 8). He depicts her to be a beautiful character inside and out, with a love for finer jewelry, wearing a gold brooch engraved with “Amor vincit omnia,” latin for love conquers all. In Chaucers initial description of the Prioress, it is obvious she values love, but not only love from a man. She expresses her love for animals; she values manners, language, and also values money as she displays admiration for lavish
In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer demonstrates many themes such as lust, greed, and poverty. During the Canterbury tales the travelers the author himself is in the tale and he describes every character in detail. Most importantly in The Wife of Bath there is numerous examples of poverty. Thought out the tale Chaucer introduces to us a man who couldn’t control himself because of lust. As a result, he gets punished by the queen.
When Chaucer’s knight stands judgment for the rape of an innocent girl, it is the queen’s authority that decides his fate: “And yaf him to the queene, al at hir wille, / To chese wheither she wolde him save or spille” (903-904). Using her power to humiliate the knight even further, she metes out the most ironic of punishments: “I graunte thee lif if thou canst tellen me / What thing is it that wommen most desiren” (910-911). With the queen’s decree, a great importance is placed upon the understanding of a woman’s needs—for this knowledge is the only hope in saving a man’s
Using the rich monk to her advantage, she spent all the money that he gave her, soon realizing the money he gave her was money that he borrowed from her husband. With no remorse of spending the money that would free her husband of his debt, she said “He gave me a sum of money… I spent it in a way of pretty clothes; it didn't go to waste… don't be angry” (Chaucer 168). Leading him to think his debt disappeared/ was gone forever, he soon found out she spent his entire savings on things she claimed he never gave her. This shows how materialistic she is to pick pretty clothes and expensive gifts for herself over the fact of having a happy relationship, without having the decency to tell him, but forcing him to find out on his own. The Merchant's wife is not the only women that corrupted her relationship. In the Death of King Arthur, the king finds out the Queen has been having an affair with their noblest knight, Lancelot, making him rethink his whole marriage. The king thought “ My lady, she wanted to be my wife or my lover. How could I allow her to be either? Love must spring from a loving heart. It cannot come
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
Women are prizes to be won over in this tale. Competition for women is portrayed throughout the entire story. This competition leads to lies and deceit which overall creates an unstable conflict. But, because of the way of life, the people who don’t lie and deceit still lose out in the end. Therefore, Chaucer teaches us that life isn’t fair and that people don’t always get what they deserve.
Chaucer chooses to make a comedy of the Wife, putting into question the seriousness of her character. What opinion is the reader to make of a woman who rants about marriage and female domination when she is described as a clown prepared for battle in the General Prologue ? Her bright red stockings, bold scarlet face, shield-like hat and sharp spurs draw the picture of a silly, if not crazy, woman whose manner is larger than life. The Wife's comical 'larger than life' characteristics apply to her feminist beliefs as well. Equal coexistence is not enough; she says men "shall be bothe my dettour and my thral "-something likely unheard of when this piece was written. Much of what makes her comical is the plethora of sexual innuendoes dispersed throughout her dialogue. For instance, when she irrelevantly mentions in her tale the eager friars that have
Hansen, Elaine Tuttle. Chaucer and the Fictions of Gender. Los Angelos, CA: University of California Press, 1992. Print.
Chaucer introduces us to several types of women in the General Prologue of his famous work the Canterbury Tales. Among these women are women of rank and social status: the Prioress, the Nun, and the Wife of Bath. Although they are surrounded by various types of men, these women told tales that made men think twice about crossing their paths. As we read about these women in the prologue, we also get a sense of whom they are: they have money, authority, and an air about them that suggests that they are not just on the pilgrimage just to save their own souls (the Wife of Bath definitely shows this trait better than her religious counterparts.) However, it is not just the women who stand for their sisters; the Clerk jumps on the female bandwagon with a tale of his own.
Chaucer aptly creates a picture that exposes how materialistic the clergy is. They all should be concerned with spiritual matters, yet they focus their attention on acquiring more mundane goods. The Monk makes no pretense of being poor and without luxuries. "I saw his sleeves were garnished at the hand with fine gray fur, the finest in the land, and on his hood, to fasten it at his chin he had a wrought-gold, cunningly fashioned pin. . ." (197-200, 110). Not only is this monk fat, and thus quite well fed, he has the money to afford details such as fur on his cloak. He is looking for attention by having such fine things. His station as a monk, however, requires him not only to work with the poor, but to be poor himself. Obviously, he is not following this requirement, much like the Prioress. Madam Eglantyne, appears at first glance to be proper for her station in life. However, a closer examination reveals "she wore a coral trinket on her arm, a set of beads, the gaudies tricked in green, whence hung a golden brooch of brightest sheen" (162-64, 109). A golden brooch serves no other purpose than being decorative. The Prioress has no...
One of the most interesting and widely interpreted characters in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is the Wife of Bath. She has had five different husbands and openly admits to marrying the majority of them for their money. The wife appears to be more outspoken and independent than most women of medieval times, and has therefore been thought to symbolize the cause of feminism; some even refer to her as the first actual feminist character in literature. Readers and scholars probably argue in favor of this idea because in The Canterbury Tales, she uniquely gives her own insight and opinions on how relations between men and women should be carried out. Also, the meaning of her tale is that virtually all women want to be granted control over themselves and their relationship with their husbands, which seems to convince people that the Wife of Bath should be viewed as some sort of revolutionary feminist of her time. This idea, however, is incorrect. The truth is that the Wife of Bath, or Alisoun, merely confirms negative stereotypes of women; she is deceitful, promiscuous, and clandestine. She does very little that is actually empowering or revolutionary for women, but instead tries to empower herself by using her body to gain control over her various husbands. The Wife of Bath is insecure, cynical towards men in general, and ultimately, a confirmation of misogynistic stereotypes of women.
In the reading "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, there is a detailed description about the nun Prioress in the "General Prologue". Chaucer uses physical and spiritual relationships to show the characteristics of a person. When we see the nun in relationship to other characters, for example the Knight, Chaucer makes the reader see two types of people. On one hand, the nun who gives much importance to minor things. On the other hand, the Knight who gives much importance to things that really matter. To describe how the nun was Chaucer writes with irony the description of the nun Prioress, everything that Chaucer says about her means the opposite.
Chaucer uses the Prioress, the Monk and the Friar to represent his views on the Church. He makes the three model members of the Church appear to have no problems with self-indulgence, greed, and being unfaithful to their vows. He displays his anti skeptical thoughts of the faults of the medieval church by making fun of its teachings and the people of the church, who use it for personal gain. Chaucer see’s the church as corrupt, hypocritical and greedy.
In the 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, which included a progressive view of women's concerns in "The Wife of Bath." During a time when women were still considered chattel existing almost exclusively to produce heirs, Chaucer takes a stand on issues affecting women that were not commonly given consideration. Writing in the first person, Chaucer is able to describe life from the viewpoint of a woman. Through this style, Chaucer addresses subject matter that would have been too candid for a female writer during his time period. By writing "The Wife of Bath" in a satirical way, Chaucer points out issues facing women regarding double standards, the validity of female desire, and the economic necessity of women to marry well while keeping the text humorous with some common female stereotypes regarding deception that have persisted into present day culture.
The Wife of Bath represents the "liberal" extreme in regards to female stereotypes of the Middle Ages. Unlike most women being anonymous during the Middle Ages, she has a mind of her own and voices herself. Furthermore, she thinks extremely highly of herself and enjoys showing off her Sunday clothes whenever the opportunity arises. She intimidates men and women alike due to the power she possesses. Because of her obnoxious attitude Chaucer makes her toothless, fat and large. Doubtlessly, she is very ugly, almost to the point of "not-presentable. This to me shows how Chaucer depicts what men don't want. The Prioress, on the other hand, serves as a foil to the Wife of Bath. Chaucer describes her as "tender-hearted" who cannot bear the sight of pain or physical suffering. She will cry at the thought of a dog dying. It could represent that she has a frail soul with low tolerance for pain and suffering. The latter description carries over into the modern stereotypes about women as skittish and afraid members of society who need to be cared for.
Women have the ability to get what they want, when they want it. Chaucer portrays the Wife of bath as the dominant person in her marriages. She looks at men as her trinkets to be used and played with. She moves from one man to another, always looking for more. The Wife of Bath is a control freak, wanting to have sex when she desires it and with whom she desires.