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The wife of bath's tale essay
The wife of bath's tale essay
The wife of bath's tale essay
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“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a story about a widow who took a pilgrimage to the town of Canterbury with an array of dynamic characters whose diverse backgrounds allowed them to share their stories with one another to make the long journey more interesting. The widow named Alison in the The Wife of Bath’s Tale told the tale of her experiences with her five past husbands and a story about a knight and a witch. She truly believed that for a woman to have a happy life she would need to gain dominion over a man; however one could assume this was programmed into her by her influential mother and her own religious doctrines. Accordingly, Alison argued that the woman must control everything in order to have a happy marriage; however, her life experience and the story she shared should tell her otherwise.
Throughout Alison’s life, she believed that women had the same rights as a man and that personal happiness did not mean for person to be celibate if not married or view sexual desires in women as a moral sin. Alison’s outlook in life enabled her freedom to marry often and not let society or her husband’s dictate weather she was a capable individual without independent value or worth because of her sex; therefore, she married five times in search of the perfect union. J. Lawrence suggested that the widow Alison used her knowledge of the bible and the teachings of God’s prophets as an excuse for her sexual appetite and multiple nuptials since she saw herself as a mans equal (Vol. 58). The first three husbands that the widow had were old, rich, and loved her dearly. She always had the upper hand in the marriages by using sex as a ploy to manipulate and take advantage of their generosity. S...
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...o provided her with the wealth and property and she wanted, she did not love or respect them; however, he next two husbands she loved most of all had dominance over her. Consequently, the only positive attention she gained by them was of her wealth and property with little regard to her needs and affections because of her old age and loss of beauty. In addition, the tale of the Knight and the witch also brought fault to widow’s theory of dominance concerning what women desire most because it was the witch who had to change her appearance in order to attain the affections of her husband. All things considered, the theory made by the widow in regard to dominance over a man to be what women desired most in order live a fulfilled marriage is flawed because it conflicted with the reality of her experiences, as well as the tale she told about the Knight and the witch.
Some say women can get the worst out of a man, but in The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1485, proves it. The tales were originally written as a collection of twenty four tales, but has been narrowed down to three short tales for high school readers. The three tales consist of “The Miller”, “The Knight”, and “The Wife of Bath” along with their respective prologues. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer shows the weak but strong role of women throughout the “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” to contrast different human characteristics and stereotypes on the spectrum of people.
Wife of Bath. Her character is noted to be strong and bold and we learn
The opinions demonstrated in the two tales are extremely unlike, of course with such different stances a point of view will be preferred by different people. In these stories both couples end up in a successful relationship, but one has a stronger base. It will differ from person to person; however, most would agree a marriage based off of equal respect would be the best choice.
As the Miller's tale progresses this exposition of jealousy is shown to have a good cause. Because the wife is young and desirable she is seen as unable to resist the advances of an equally young scholar, “while her husband was at Osney / (these clerks are very subtle and sly) / and privily he grabbed her by the crotch” (line 87-89). The clerk forces himself upon Alison, “and said, Unless I have my will of you, / sweetheart, I'm sure to die for suppressed love” (lines 91-92). Alison being so young and inexperienced is unable to resist the urges of the clerk Nicholas, “and made her oath, by Saint Thomas a Becket, / that she would be his to command (lines 105-106).
The Wife of Bath, with the energy of her vernacular and the voraciousness of her sexual appetite, is one of the most vividly developed characters of 'The Canterbury Tales'. At 856 lines her prologue, or 'preambulacioun' as the Summoner calls it, is the longest of any of the pilgrims, and matches the General Prologue but for a few lines. Evidently Chaucer is infatuated with Alisoun, as he plays satirically with both gender and class issues through the Wife's robust rhetoric. Scholars and students alike have continued this obsession with her, and as a consequence Chaucer's larger than life widow has been subject to centuries of scrutiny. Indeed, she is in the vast minority amongst the Canterbury bound pilgrims; apart from the in-vogue Prioress she is the only female - though she appears in no way daunted by the apparent inequality in numbers. It seems almost a crime to examine masculinity in her prologue and tale, but as I hope to show, there is much to learn both about the Wife and about Chaucer from this male presence.
In the magical days when England was ruled by King Arthur, a young Knight was riding home when he saw a beautiful young maiden walking all alone in the woods and raped her.
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.
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.
She loves men but hates them. She strives for marriage but sees it as a battleground. She seems to like her fourth husband but is ready for a fifth even before the fourth dies. She loves her fifth husband the best but is more abused by him than by any of the others. She sees one of the purposes of marriage as procreation but seems to have had, in five marriages, no children. She thinks women should have sovereignty but seems not to want it herself, or at least not for long” (100)
... The Miller portrays Alison as a "wild and young" (205) woman throughout the entire tale, making it clear that she does not respect the relationship with her husband at all. It can also suggest that she is not an angel or the “good wife” that she likes to pretend to be. It is obvious that Alison likes to use her beauty and body in ways to make it easier to obtain the things that she desire just like The Wife of Bath indirectly hints in her tale.
Women in the medieval times were cast into very distinct roles. There was a strict code of conduct that was followed. They were to be submissive to their husbands and follow their lead. A woman’s place was also in the home and the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, sewing, etc. fell into their domain. Women who deviated from these cultural-set norms made for interesting characters. Chaucer’s use of women and their overstepping their boundaries and typical roles in society make them most memorable.
Olson, Glending. "The Marital Dilemma In The Wife Of Bath's Tale: An Unnoticed Analogue And Its Chaucerian Court Context."English Language Notes 33.(1995): 1-7. Humanities Source. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is an important part of his most famed work, The Canterbury Tales. One of the most respected highly analyzed of all of the tales, this particular one is important both for its character development and its prevailing themes. It seamlessly integrates ideas on society at that time with strong literary development. This work stands the test of time both because of its literary qualities and because of what it can teach us about the role of women in late Medieval society.
The world-renowned Canterbury Tales by the great Geoffrey Chaucer aims to magnify the controversial social injustices of gender roles in the medieval time period that consequently flow into today’s current modern society. One of the greatest social standing issues addressed throughout the poem includes the institution of marriage, and the particular viewpoint held by the character named the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath is notably shamed by her potential suitors and moralist peers, for her devious actions of taking advantage of her former husbands throughout her lengthy five marriages. However, Chaucer actually invites the audience to give a closer look at the overall flawed instuition of marriage
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.