Feminism In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

1007 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Insight into canterbury tales

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. Feminists fight for the power of women in society. They believe this world is male dominated and woman must fight for power and gain control of men. The Wife of Bath fights for her power in her relationships. She begins her prologue by proclaiming that experience is the greatest authority. “Experience, even if there were no other authority in this world, would be grounds enough for me to speak …show more content…

When Alisoun says that a husband “shall be both my debtor and my thrall” (Chaucer 155), she means a husband should be a slave to his wife, does she mean in all aspects of a marriage or just sexually? Throughout the Wife of Bath’s prologue and tale, she consistently makes sexual references and her stories focus on sexuality: whether it be virginity, reproductive organs, or sex with her husband. “Tell me also, to what end were reproductive organs made?” (Chaucer 117). Alisoun believes that her husband owes her sex. “My husband shall have both evening and morning, whenever he wants to comeforth and pay his debt.’ (Chaucer 152-154). Alisoun gives her husband the freedom to choose when to pay his debt. This is ironic because she also claims “All through my life I have the power over his own body, and not he” (Chaucer 158-159). Although he chooses when he wants to pay his debt, Alisoun has all the power over his body, not him. She even withholds sex from her husband until he does what she wants. “Till he had made his ransom unto to me” (Chaucer

Show More
Related

  • Competition For Women In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

    873 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Pardoner Who Needs A Bath

    1584 Words  | 4 Pages

    The image of the woman in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue is depicted by Chaucer to be “barley wheat” in a town and civilization lusting for whole white wheat or virginity (Chaucer 1711). The woman has married many men and in doing so forgotten the true value of the Christian faith and now believes worldly influence can overpower the scriptures of the Bible, “can you show in plain words that Almighty God forbade us marriage? Or where did he command virginity?” (Chaucer 1709). Jackie Shead analyzes the prologue and states, “it begins by manipulating authoritative texts--a pre-emptive strike to justify the Wife's marital history and her single-minded pursuit of self-gratification” (Shead). The possibility of the Wife of B...

    Read More

  • Chaucer's Canterbury Tales Essay - Women in The Wife of Bath

    1429 Words  | 3 Pages

    The main character, Alison, or the wife of Bath, is representative of most of the feminist ideals in the work. She is strong, independent, and to be respected as a woman of great courage. Alison has suffered a great deal in her lifetime, indicative of life for women at this time. She has survived five husbands; some of whom beat her, others were unfaithful. She was married off at an early age of twelve and from then on knew what marriage was about: money. "Marriage is the key to survival, and that is what Alisoun seeks and finds" (Carruthers 214), argues Mary Carruthers, justifying Alison's five marriages. Alison equates money with power. With this power comes respect and honor.

    Read More

  • Misogyny in The Canterbury Tales

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although society has advanced dramatically technologically, I feel that we still have a long way to go when it comes to how we view one another. It amazes me that in a society such as ours, that bases its existence on the equality of all people, that misogyny (as it occurred in medieval times) still takes place. A timeless example of misogyny is the objectifying of women, which suggests that a woman's sexual beauty is her only worth. In dealing with this misconstruction, some women, as in the case of Bercilak's wife in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and Alisoun in "The Miller's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales, use their sex appeal to deceive, lure, and, manipulate men. A small part of me shamefully admits that I respect, and even appreciate, the way in which a woman can outsmart a man by entertaining his sexist views; however, as a whole, I strongly feel that if a woman uses her sexuality for her own advancement, then she is contributing to her own misogyny.

    Read More

  • Canterbury Tales The Woman of Bath

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    The lewd Woman of Bath was a very intricate cloth-maker who led a very interesting life. She was a member of the urban society and was very successful in her endeavors. She was considered attractive, she had big hips, long hair, gapped teeth, and she was somewhat deaf. She wore tight clothes, a red scarf on her head, red fishnet stockings, and soft new shoes. All of these things, along with the fact that she was very well traveled indicated that she was rather wealthy. The Woman of Bath had five husbands and many more love affairs. Chaucer states that she knows how to remedy love’s problems, an art at which she knew the oldest

    Read More

  • Who Painted the Leon?

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, which powers exactly is the Wife of Bath talking about? It seems that materialistic power is what Alisoun means - women wish to control their husbands' estates and other economic holdings. In her "Prologue" the Wife of Bath describes her last, fifth, marriage to Janekin. After a huge fight with him, caused by Alisoun's ripping pages out of his book of wicked wives, Janekin grants her the control over the house and the land, what makes her very happy, and she treats her husband with kindness from then on:

    Read More

  • Comparing Women In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

    428 Words  | 1 Pages

    Woman in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” compared to the women in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows a progress or a power shift between men and women. When the knight sees the old lady and asks her for her help, she’s the only one who has that power to help save him. Now in terms of power, the old lady and the Wife differ in how they show their power. For example, The Wife in the prologue, she talks about her having five husbands and is looking for the sixth one and how her husband who “shal be bothe my dettour and my thral / And have his tribulacion withal / Upon his flesh whil that I am his wif.” (shall be both my debtor and my slave / And bear his tribulation to the grave / Upon his flesh, as long as I’m his wife) (The Wife of Bath’s Prologue 161-163) and even how she “have the

    Read More

  • Feminist Stereotypes In Chaucer's The Wife Of Bath

    349 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Wife of Bath is both the joke and the jokester herself within the text, which highlights Chaucer’s ulterior motive of calling medieval anti-feminist stereotypes into question. The reader can see this idea through a multitude of instances, mainly when speaking of her last husband and her story of the knight and his quest. Women of that time period were essentially powerless, and Chaucer simply highlights a woman who is tired of this notion and wants to change it. What Jankyn did of reading “that cursed book all night” and the actions that ensued show that not only is The Wife of Bath tired of the fact that only men were writing and recording stories that put women in a bad light, but that it also had to be pretty frustrating to put up with

    Read More

  • The Wife of Bath

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Wife of Bath’s insecurity and cynicism are just two of the ways in which she fulfils negative stereotypes of women. She tries to separate herself from other women of her time by taking control of her life by means of sex, but if she were truly progressive, she would have found a way to elevate herself without using her body. Alisoun is exactly what men fear and dislike about women; she is promiscuously sneaky, and she takes advantage of men. This is why while trying to present herself as strong and independent, her actions ultimately confirm misogynistic stereotypes of women; in the end, she is even more digressive to the cause feminism than a normal woman would be.

    Read More

  • Wife Of Bath Comparison Essay

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    The idea of supremacy and dignity are both present in The Wife of Bath’s Tale making it the central concept throughout the entirety of her story. It is assumed that her primary marriage was organized by her parents, even though The Wife of Bath does not mention them in her prologue, “experience, though no authority/ were in this world, is right enough for me/to speak of the woe that is in marriage; /for, my lords, since I was twelve years of age.” (Chaucer 285). In that time period, it is considered that the men, such as a father, husband or even a brother are supposed to protect the women in the family. Even though The Wife of Bath does not believe in being ruled by a man, she does however like to be married to one. One will notice that when a husband passed away or left, The Wife will move to her next husband. A marriage where the wife conquers over the husband is a perfect, blissful one according to The Wife of Bath. She discovers that it’s not too...

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in The Canterbery Tales

    2003 Words  | 5 Pages

    Chaucer, in his female pilgrimage thought of women as having an evil-like quality that they always tempt and take from men. They were depicted as untrustworthy, selfish and vain and often like caricatures not like real people at all. Through the faults of both men and women, Chaucer showed what is right and wrong and how one should live. Under the surface, however, lies a jaded look of women in the form that in his writings he seems to crate them as caricatures and show how they cause the downfall of men by sometimes appealing to their desires and other times their fears. Chaucer obviously had very opinionated views of the manners and behaviours of women and expressed it strongly in The Canterbury Tales. In his collection of tales, he portrayed two extremes in his prospect of women. The Wife of Bath represented the extravagant and lusty woman where as the Prioress represented the admirable and devoted followers of church. Chaucer delineated the two characters contrastingly in their appearances, general manners, education and most evidently in their behaviour towards men. Yet, in the midst of disparities, both tales left its readers with an unsolved enigma.

    Read More

  • Women in the Canterbury Tales

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the ages, the story of the original sin is used to explain the struggles of women and why they are inferior to man. Eve “took of [the forbidden tree’s] fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6), and as punishment, God made it so “[her husband] shall rule over her” (3:16). As an important text during the lifetime of the characters who tell the collection of stories that compose the Canterbury Tales, most of the pilgrims were familiar with this scripture and believed that the Bible’s word was law. For that reason, the popular belief of the time was that women were inferior to their male counterparts. However, a couple of characters in the tales challenge this viewpoint and show that women were also capable of making their own choices. As the pilgrims struggle with the issue of where women belong, their view of Eve in the story of original sin is altered as well. From mild indifference to intimate involvement, each pilgrim has a different attachment to the story of the Eve, and their views on women in society are reflected in their connection to the story.

    Read More

  • Canterbury Tales Essay - Anti-Feminist Rhetoric in The Wife Of Bath

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath is a strong woman who loudly states her opinions about the antifeminist sentiments popular at the time. Chaucer, however, frequently discredits her arguments by making them unfounded and generally compromising her character. This brings into question Chaucer's political intent with the Wife of Bath. Is he supportive of her views, or is he making a mockery of woman who challenge the patriarchal society and its restriction and mistrust of women? The Wife's comedic character, frequent misquoting of authorities, marital infidelity, and her (as well as Chaucer's) own antifeminist sentiments weaken the argument that Chaucer supported of the Wife's opinions.

    Read More

  • Sexuality In The Wife Of Bath's Prologue And Margery Kempe

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    The “Wife of Bath’s Prologue” shows that Alisoun was empowered by the ability use her sexuality. As she introduces her tale, Alisoun makes it clear that she sees marriage as a way to gain money and status, “Of fyve husbondes

    Read More

  • Canterbury Tales Essay - Sexuality in The Wife of Bath and the Pardoner

    1709 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, an eclectic mix of people gathers together at Tabard Inn to begin a pilgrimage to Canterbury. In the General Prologue, the readers are introduced to each of these characters. Among the pilgrims are the provocative Wife of Bath and the meek Pardoner. These two characters both demonstrate sexuality, in very different ways. Chaucer uses the Wife and the Pardoner to examine sexuality in the medieval period.

    Read More

More about Feminism In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

Open Document