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Essay on an analysis "the wife of bath's tale" using a modern gender equality perspective
Essay on an analysis "the wife of bath's tale" using a modern gender equality perspective
Essay on an analysis "the wife of bath's tale" using a modern gender equality perspective
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This essay compares the conception honor in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Prologue" and "The Franklin's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales. The problem of honor seems to be timeless in its difficulties. There are many ideas and opinions concerning this delicate subject, which always is popular, along with its ability to frustrate and perplex the human. During the time of Chaucer, females such as the Wife of Bath were asserting their rights against the forces of male chauvinism. Apparently, the battle of the sexes for supremacy is everlasting in its intensity and has always been fought. Consequently, we have both male and female chauvinists, and they appear in Chaucer's works. They make for interesting reading. In “The Franklin’s Tale,” Averagus and Dorigen get married and the vow to always respect each other and the other’s words and actions. Shortly after getting married he is gone to England for two years, and while he is away his wife weeps, fasts, and laments his absence. Dorigen sits on the shore looking at bare rocks that are near by and during this time she becomes fear...
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.
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
The dominance of men in the Middle Ages is unethical, irrational, and dangerous; women are given few rights and the opportunity to earn rights is non-existent. The dictates to the dominance is formed by the internal combination of man’s personal desire and religious interference. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tales, the combined perspectives’ on a haughty Pardoner and non-subservient wife is the stronghold of separation in moral roles. The moral roles between men and women are exemplified in the rankings of religious hierarchy for men are at the top and women towards the bottom. Even prestigious women, ones with noble connections, are subservient to men, but contradictorily have religious affiliations. The “Wife of Bath’s Tale” is a perfect example of defying man’s dominance and the “Pardoner’s Tale”, a problematic reasoning of why selfishness connects moreover to the manipulation. The frailties of religious reasoning however, will cause The Pardoner and the Wife of Bath to be separated from society’s morals.
The theme for honour and fidelity apply for both men and women in Shakespeare’s play ‘much ado about nothing’. Honour and fidelity is represented very differently for men and women as it would have been for the people in Elizabethan times. In this first section of the essay, I will be exploring double standards and Shakespeare’s awareness of the double standards between sexes and his feminist approach, the differences of honour and fidelity for men and women and upper class and lower class comparisons.
While reading old texts, it is an important strategy for readers to look up words that they are unsure of the meaning. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is no exception. There are many words within this text with which modern readers are unfamiliar. Often times, there are nuances to the writing that can be overlooked if the full meaning of the language is not understood. One such example is the word “gentilesse” which is used in The Wife of Bath’s Tale. In this tale, the lady discusses the nature of nobility with a knight. By using the word “gentilesse,” she is referencing a specific type of nobility that is passed down through noble birth lines in the same manner as a title passes from father to son. But after mentioning “gentilesse,” she immediately argues against its existence. Using the word “gentilesse,” the Wife of Bath is able to effectively argue that nobility is a characteristic that one earns through their actions, not one that is passed down a family line.
Thousands of years after this novel was written, men and women still do not know what one another wants. In taking both Psychology and Sociology this year, I hope to gain a better understanding of how both sexes co-exist with one another. Works Consulted -. Chaucer, Geoffrey. A. “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.”
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.
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.
In The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the stereotypes and roles in society are reexamined and made new through the characters in the book. Chaucer discusses different stereotypes and separates his characters from the social norm by giving them highly ironic and/or unusual characteristics. Specifically, in the stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale, Chaucer examines stereotypes of women and men and attempts to define their basic wants and needs.
Geoffrey Chaucer has an interesting view on women’s roles in life. Through his tales he shows his differentiation in how he feels women are in life. He stays true to his time and the oppression of women that was happening, but he adds a twist. In The Canterbury Tales he shows women being weak and at the mercy of the men in their lives on one hand, and on the other hand the women are in control and their men are at their will.
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.
In the beginning of The Franklin’s Tale, Arveragus had to obey everything that Dorigen told him, she has power over him (courtly love). After they get married, he would still obey everything she would say, except for “appearance of sovereignty, Which he would have to avoid bringing shame on his status (of knighthood).” Dorigen promised that there should never be fault in her. She was worried when her husband left for war, she couldn’t live without him, she wants him to go back home. Soon a young and handsome named Aurelius appears and he’s in love with Dorigen. When he tells her what his intentions are, she tells him, “I shall never be an untrue wife, In word nor deed, so long as I have my wits; I will be his to whom that I am knit. Take this for my final answer.” Even after telling him that she tells him that if he removes all the rocks, from the sea so that they do not prevent any boat or ship to go, she will love him best of any man. After two years, Arveragus returned and they were still in love. Aurelius would work hard and looked for ways to remove the rocks, until one day he got what he wanted. When he told Dorigen, she was in shock, she thought it was impossible.
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.
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.
As a man fascinated with the role of women during the 14th Century, or most commonly known as the Middle Ages, Chaucer makes conclusive evaluations and remarks concerning how women were viewed during this time period. Determined to show that women were not weak and humble because of the male dominance surrounding them, Chaucer sets out to prove that women were a powerful and strong-willed gender. In order to defend this argument, the following characters and their tales will be examined: Griselda from the Clerk's Tale, and the Wife of Bath, narrator to the Wife of Bath's Tale. Using the role of gender within the genres of the Canterbury Tales, exploring each woman's participation in the outcomes of their tales, and comparing and contrasting these two heroines, we will find out how Chaucer broke the mold on medievalist attitudes toward women.