The Canterbury Tales are a series of tales written, by Geoffrey Chaucer, about the journeys of pilgrims to Canterbury. Geoffrey Chaucer did not begin writing these tales until he was in his late forties and due to his late arrival with this piece, Chaucer died before he could complete these epic tales (Librarius). Within these many tales Chaucer wrote one in particular tale of a character named the Wife of Bath. He also characterized her with a prologue and wrote a tale from her point of view. The Wife of Bath represents the new age of women coming about within the Middle Ages. Women were no longer excepting being property to a man nor being a simple house wife; women were beginning to stand up for one another and have a voice in society. The Wife of Bath had dominant, forceful views on how women should treat their husbands and believed that women should have power and control.
Chaucer first offers a prologue that describes the characteristics and the personality of the Wife of Bath. Chaucer describes her as a woman of great dress; however, her dress is not of elegance but of pure boastfulness. She is an attention seeker with a view that most women of this time did not have. The Wife of Bath believes that the only way to a man’s heart is through sexual pleasure and she believed all men should experience her pleasures. She claimed to know all the remedies to love’s misfortunes and art (Chaucer). She was married five times with many lovers in her earlier years. This comes quite shockingly because she is not described as being a beautiful woman. The Wife of Bath has a rosy red complexion with gapped teeth. Gapped teeth, in the Middle Ages, symbolized charm to many men. She also wore extravagant head-dresses which were mostly red ...
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...ontrol and power within the society (Camelot International). Chaucer’s description of the Wife of Bath was immensely correct and he made a wise decision by allowing her to present the knight’s tell from her point of view.
Works Cited
1. “The Canterbury Tales.” Librarius. Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400), 1997 N.p., Web. 04 Dec. 2013
2. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. 1387. Elements of Literature. Ed. Dr. Kylene Beers et al. Austin: Holt, Rhinehart,and Winston, 2008. 178-187. Print
3. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. 1387. Elements of Literature. Ed. Dr. Kylene Beers et al. Austin: Holt, Rhinehart,and Winston, 2008. 155. Print
4. “The Characteristics of the Wife of Bath." The Characteristics of the Wife of Bath. Ncnu (English Literature). N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013
5. “Women in the Middle Ages.” Camelot International. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013
The irony comes in when Chaucer adds that she is a gap-toothed woman in scarlet red leggings, who has been married five times. This description does not sum up with the image of a hard working, devoted Christian woman according to the doctrine of the church. Chaucer's physical description is important because it makes the Wife of Bath more acknowledged ; she reeks of feminine
The use of euphemism and crudeness in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” is simultaneously unnerving and amusing, and begs the question of how a “wicked” woman like The Wife could ever actually progress in medieval society. Chaucer incorporates subtle allusions to female sexual organs and it is this bluntness (that would raise eyebrows even today) which establishes the Wife as such a powerfully outspoken character. Because courtship in Chaucer’s time was considered worthy of complete submission, the fact that the Wife places such emphasis on domination and even psychological power hints at her being an object of irony (and not a feminist figure “before her time”). It is for this reason that Chaucer’s delicate use of “queynte”- a term from which
Shead, Jackie. "'The wife of bath's tale' as self-revelation: Jackie Shead discusses how far the Wife's Tale perpetuates the picture we have gained of her from her Prologue." The English Review Feb. 2010: 35+. General OneFile. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
Boardman, Phillip C. "Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400)." Enduring Legacies: Ancient and Medieval Cultures. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson Custom Pub., 2000. 430-54. Print.
At the end of the thirteenth century and moving into the fourteenth, a cultural revolution was unfolding in Italy. This would sweep away the old medieval order and usher in a new age of creativity and enlightenment. This period, known as the Italian Renaissance, had started in the city of Florence and would soon spread to other regions of the Italian peninsula such as Venice and Rome. It was a rebirth of the Italian culture, brought on by a renewed interest in the classical cultures of ancient Rome and Greece. It brought many of the world's greatest artists to prominence, such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. In addition to the surge of new and highly skilled visual art, there was also a good deal of literature being produced, such as The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli and, of course, The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed Mack, Maynard et al. W. W. Norton and Co. New York, NY. 1992.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed Mack, Maynard et al. W. W. Norton and Co. New York, NY. 1992. 1551-1621.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Knight’s Tale.” The Canterbury Tales. Trans. R.M. Lumiansky. NY. Bantam, 2006. 19-63.Print
In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, a reader is introduced to a rather bizarre and heterogeneous group of people leaving for a pilgrimage. The Wife of Bath is the most interesting and lively character of the group. Her "Prologue" and "Tale" provide readers with a moral lesson as well as comic relief. The Wife's "Prologue" serves as an overture to her "Tale", in which she states a very important point regarding the nature of women and their most sacred desires. According to this character, women desire sovereignty, or power, over their men most in the world. This wish seems to be most appropriate for women of the time period in which Chaucer lived. However, women today no longer wish to dominate their men - sovereignty of women over men is not relevant in the twenty-first century. The reason is that women are no longer deprived of power and freedom.
Cooper, Helen. "Deeper into the Reeve’s Tale, 1395-1670." Pp. 168-184. In Chaucer Traditions: Studies in Honour of Derek Brewer. Ruth Morse and Barry Windeatt, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990.
...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 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.
The Wife of Bath had a strong argument in favour of marriage but is easy to fault. Her argument that marriage grows more virgins, while correct makes us wonder why she bore no children. And she also mentions the fact that “in wyfhood I wol use myn instrument” but her marriage did not seem to have stopped her from restraining her “Chamber of Venus from a good felawe.” The Wife of Bath confuses bigamy with remarriage and manipulates the arguments for remarriage to suit her purpose. Chaucer gives the Wife of Bath’s arguments less credibility
Geoffrey Chaucer used his characters in Canterbury Tales as a way to illustrate stereotype of medieval society. The Wife of Bath, one of the pilgrims in Canterbury Tales demonstrates an authoritative role in marriage The Wife of Bath’s unusual behavior and attitudes can be interpreted by two motives: feminist ideals or sexual indulgence. When considering feminist viewpoints, it can be concluded that the Wife of Bath’s behavior is motivated by sexual indulgence.
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.