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Literary device in the wife of bath
The wife of the bath tale analysis literary devices
The wife of bath's tale characters
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The main theme of the Wife of baths tale is the two of the seven deadly sins “lust and greed”.
The wife of baths tale is a very lusty and boisterous women. She sees absolutely nothing wrong with having five different husbands. She feels as though her marriages are just giving her more experience. She obeys the bibles words by “going forth and multiplying” after each husbands passing. She feels as though the sexual organs are “made for both pleasure and functional purposes” and she is willing to have sex whenever her man wishes to. She doesn’t think sex is just for procreation.
The wife of bath shows us greed throughout the whole play. She wants to gain sovereignty over her husbands. She believes a happy relationship is one where the wife
The Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales, a novel by Geoffrey Chaucer, is defined by her desires. Firstly, “Why should I care if they were pleased/ I was the one to be appeased.” (Line:220-221 pg:112) Her principal focus is to suffice her pleasures rather than to have a good relationship with all five of her husband's. She Also disregarded all their emotions and if she hurt them during the process of satisfying her ambitions. Additionally, “No doubt you understand this tale/ prepare to pay; it’s all for sale.” (line:420-421 pg:117) In this quote she even admits that her desires for money override her need of sexual activities. She is risking everything, even her body, all because she has this thirst for money. Finally, “Robbed and murdered,
Regularly characterized as monsters, women were ridiculed for being sexually unappeasable, lustful, and shrewish, and they were regarded with condescension by the church authorities. Similarly, people in the medieval era regarded multiple marriages as highly questionable, and it is for this reason that the Wife of Bath carefully examines the words of God as revealed in scripture (revealing her to be more than a simple-minded woman: a knowledge of religious texts proves she is definitely educated and well-read). She confesses that nowhere can she find a stricture against her having more than one marriage, and her five husbands are therefore her choice and hers only. “He seith to be wedded is no synne:/ Bet is to be wedded than to brynne”, she remarks humorously, drawing on the fact that by God’s permission, finding a partner through marriage is a pastime with little consequences, for it is better than engaging in sin and burning for it (50-53. 301). This begins her analysis of the bible and the often “sinful” breakdown of a sexual relationship between man and woman, and introduces her repetitive idea of the
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...
The Wife of Bath is a complex character-she is different from the way she represents herself. Maybe not even what she herself thinks she is. On the surface, it seems as though she is a feminist, defending the rights and power of women over men. She also describes how she dominates her husband, playing on a fear that was common to men. From a point of view of a man during that time period, she seemed to illustrate all of the wrongs that men found in women. Such as a weak parody of what men, then saw as feminists. The Wife of Bath constantly emphasizes the negative implications of women throughout the ages. She describes women as greedy, controlling, and dishonest.
A woman wants the self-same sovereignty as over her husband as over her lover, And master him;and he must not above her” (Chaucer) This is a quote from the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” written by Geoffrey Chaucer. Throughout the poem there are many misogynistic topics are expressed all through the work. For example the knight assuming he had the right to have sex with the maiden without her consent. Many people assuming that since she is a woman that she cannot be a well traveled, experienced woman therefore she should be at the house with the children. And the knight, then husband, reading “The book on Wicked Wives” and becoming paranoid that his wife is out to get him. All the facts stated above have great parallels to Chaucer’s marriage in more subtle ways.
According to the Wife of Bath, sovereignty, or power, over their husbands is what women desire most in their lives:
“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 Alisoun 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, Alisoun 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.
The audience can clearly see that she does not take well to sexual abuse and mistreatment of women by first condemning the rapist to death by the king. The wife further develops the illustration of her morals by allowing the rapist to in order to learn a lesson. Ironically, as punishment for rape, the queen proposes, “Yet you shall live if you can answer me: What is the thing that women most desire? Beware the axe and say as I require.” The Wife of Bath sends him on a mission of repentance, to change the knight’s ways which shows she wants him to understand. The Wife of Bath’s Super ego can be shown in the lessons of gentility, humility, and poverty that she illustrates in the Old Lady teaching the Knight during the course of their marriage. The Old lady says things like, “…arrogance is hardly worth a hen…” and “…No shame in poverty if the heart is gay…” which directly round-up the clear beliefs of the Wife of Bath disguised as the Old
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...
Some of The Wife of Baths shortcomings and faults were her inability to maintain a stable relationship and her desire to flirt with other men while her husbands were out of town. Other than her failures in relationships, she was a pioneer for women of her time. At a time when women did not have a lot of freedom, she seemed to live a free lifestyle. She spoke her mind and was quick to talk about her knowledge in pleasing men, sex and she spoke out against virginity. Another strong characteristic she possessed could was her ability to please herself and her how she refused to consider the opinion of others. This trait could also be looked at as a negative, because she did not care about her first 4 husbands either. The Wife of Bath also spoke her mind on the traditions that existed in her generation.
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
However, a divorced woman is automatically viewed as less desirable for suitors if she chooses to marry again. The unfairness of this advantage in the marriage market is presented throughout the poem. Women are viewed as objects that are meant to only serve their husbands commands. The Wife of Bath takes charge in reverses the stereotypical roles by taking charge in her first two marriages and her overall views on sex. Her carefree attitude strikes down the connation’s that women should only be limited to having sex for procreation and for her own personal pleasure. She explains how God wanted Adam and Eve to multiply and that is only possible by having sex. The Wife of Bath elaborates, “But wel I woot expres, withoute lye, God bad us for to wexe and multiplye: That gentil text can I wel understonde. “ (27-29). She uses the bible as a template to justify her actions of having sex for pleasure and procreation. As the church uses the bible to socially repress women from their sexuality. In addition, the wife of bath describes the difference in viewpoints for husbands and wives on their positions in a marriage. A woman in this time period looks at marriage as a profession where she obliges to her husband’s every command. A man looks at marriage more for pleasure and enjoyment. The wife explains the power
In The Canterbury Tales Wife of Bath’s Tale, the author incorporates major events in the text that relate to power in many different ways. In addition, in the text the author illustrates the sovereignty that women have over man in various ways. Furthermore, there is power in knowledge because with knowledge there is freedom. Also, in the text a character loses power over the external events that occurring in their lives. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale, the author illustrates a woman’s power through authority, marriage, and punishment.
When reading the wife of Baths prologue and then her tale one can not help but to see the parallels present. The major parallel that exists is the subject of sovereignty. Who has it, which wants it, which deserves it and what will you do to get it? First we see that the Wife claims to have sovereignty over each of her husbands even though some were harder to gain dominance over than others. Then there is the tale where we find the answer to the question, “What do women want?”, sovereignty over their husbands. Finally we see the Wife’s idealized version of marriage in her tale. The hag gains control over the knight by forcing him to marry her, then giving him control to decide her loyalty, he cant chose so he gives up all control to her just like that and it’s over, the end, they live happily ever after.
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.