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Treatment of women in renaissance and middle ages
Wife of bath's character analysis
Women in medieval literature and society
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How far do you agree that in the battle of the sexes it is the wife of Bath who has the most effictive weapons and armour?
The Wife sees the relationship between men and women as a battle in which it is crucial to gain the upper hand,
'Oon of us two must bowen, douteless'
Her armour was indeed necessary, as in Medieval England, women definitley were second class citizens who were viewed as goods and chattels, with no financial independence. They were often beaten, and it is clearly in the Wife's nature to protect herself.
She uses weapons like her sexuality and her youth to make her husbands suffer, so much so that they feel impotent.
'How pitously a-night I made hem swinke!'
This weapon was highly effective with first three husbands who she managed to dominate,
'I hadde hem hoolly in myn hond'
and they handed over 'lond and hir tresoor' as she with held sex in order to get her own way with them.
The Wife also used a weapon of deceit and she clearly comments that women have this weapon from birth,
'Swere and lyen as a womman kan'
She tells her audience tha...
... middle of paper ...
...nce is that she is once again in control as
'he yaf me al the bridel in myn hond
To han the governance of ous and lond'
Although her marriage with her 5th husband is never resolved and there is no winner because he dies whilst she is on a pilgrimmage, she has a good battle, and probably the most difficult of all her husbands.
The overall picture is of a Wife who has certainly fought the good fight. Not surprising as her astrological sign is Mars, implying strength in war. She is still confident and looking to welcome husband number 6.
The story of Dame Ragnell and "The Wife of Bath's Tale" are works that are very similar yet have differences that set the two apart. The most obvious comparison between the two works is the dilemma faced in each. In both stories a man's life is at stake and all he has to do to be spared is to answer one question. That question has to do with what women really want. Another similarity involves the outcome of each story. The differences between the two stories are revealed in the plots. The differences that stand out the most are the circumstances leading up to the question being asked and the attitude of the person that has to marry the old hag to get the answer to the question. There are many small differences between the stories but they are not as important as the two mentioned.
Wife of Bath. Her character is noted to be strong and bold and we learn
Many critics throughout the years have given the Wife of Bath a title of that of a feminist. She is a strong-willed and dominant woman who gets what she wants when she wants it, by manipulating her husbands into feeling bad for things that they didn’t do, or by saying things that put them to utter shame. No man has ever been able to give an exact answer when she asks to know how many husbands a woman may have in her life...
Don't let incarceration or death affect the life of you, or someone that you love. Understanding the horrific effects of methamphetamine can make a difference in life or death. According to T. Lopez (2014), at age eighteen she lost her father due to the impact that methamphetamine had on his heart and kidneys. Nevertheless, a few years later she and her husband became a victim of the awful cycle of addiction. Unfortunately, due to their addiction they became involved in criminal activity and found their selves jailed leaving behind their five children. Methamphetamine is a potent stimulant that affects the central nervous system (CNS). It is commonly called speed, meth, chalk, ice, crystal, crank, and glass. Meth is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystal-like powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol (Speed , 2011). It was created “from the drug amphetamine, and was originally used in nasal decongestants, bronchial inhalers, and the treatment of narcolepsy and obesity” (Treating Methamphetamine Addiction). Methamphetamine is considered to be “a Schedule II drug - a drug with little medical use and a high potential for abuse” (Treating Methamphetamine Addiction). Although it can be made in small secret laboratories with fairly inexpensive over-the-counter ingredients, “over 85% of methamphetamine is made in super labs in California and Mexico” (Meth Addiction Statistics, 2014). Methamphetamine abuse is a very serious addiction that affects a user’s mental and physical states while simultaneously destroying their lives; without managed treatment, misfortune is inevitable.
While there are a large variety of illegal drugs out on the streets currently, one of the most well-known is methamphetamine. Most people today know of the drug, but do not understand how it came into existence. Knowing the history is important, because it can help one to better grasp how it came to be and why so many people today use the drug. Methamphetamine is a stimulant and it is extremely addictive and very powerful. Unfortunately, there are many people in various countries throughout the world that are addicted to this highly harmful drug. It is awfully difficult to recover from a methamphetamine addiction, but it is not impossible if one has the right resources, help, and support group. Many individuals do not seek the help that they need, however, and the harmful addiction often times leads to an overdose, often resulting in death. In order to make a difference in our communities, or to simply be able to understand what an addict is going through, it is a very wise idea to know the effects and background of methamphetamine. Understanding the drug’s past and how it effects the individuals will help one to better understand what the user is going through.
My first main point is what is meth and what’s in it. Meth is a powerful addictive drug that affects the central nervous system. People take meth because it makes the users feel high and full of energy. The users who take meth will allow their bodies to keep going and going which is very damaging to the human body and brain (kidshealth.org, 6/8/15). When you feel high and full of energy and your bodies to keep going and going it’s very damaging because they feel exhausted. The meth “cook” take out the ingredients from cold medicine pills and to increase it’s strenght combine the substance with chemicals such as battery acid,drain cleaner,lantern fuel and antifreeze.(Drug-free.world). Cooking meth is illegal and it’s hidden laboratories and meth chemicals are very dangerous. Methamphetamine has many streets name, such as speed, meth, and chalk. Meth hydrochloride, to the crystal , glass and tina.
...ptions of women and their roles as wives. Rather than opposing binary oppositions, she engages with them, using skilful language and exploiting her sex in order to disprove patriarchal thought. In particular, the Wife argues for experience over authority, demonstrating the biases that coincide with authoritative scripture and doctrine. By undermining the validity that is associated with authoritative arguments, the wife ironically is able to make dominating arguments, and propose new interpretations of masculine texts and label them as experienced opinions. She does not necessarily overturn masculine supremacy, but rather transforms it absoluteness into relativity. Through her prologue and her tale, the Wife of Bath promotes the re-interpretation of gender customs and marriage dynamics using feminized language, successfully giving a prevailing voice to women.
One of the most interesting and widely interpreted characters in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is the Wife of Bath. She has had five different husbands and openly admits to marrying the majority of them for their money. The wife appears to be more outspoken and independent than most women of medieval times, and has therefore been thought to symbolize the cause of feminism; some even refer to her as the first actual feminist character in literature. Readers and scholars probably argue in favor of this idea because in The Canterbury Tales, she uniquely gives her own insight and opinions on how relations between men and women should be carried out. Also, the meaning of her tale is that virtually all women want to be granted control over themselves and their relationship with their husbands, which seems to convince people that the Wife of Bath should be viewed as some sort of revolutionary feminist of her time. This idea, however, is incorrect. The truth is that the Wife of Bath, or Alisoun, merely confirms negative stereotypes of women; she is deceitful, promiscuous, and clandestine. She does very little that is actually empowering or revolutionary for women, but instead tries to empower herself by using her body to gain control over her various husbands. The Wife of Bath is insecure, cynical towards men in general, and ultimately, a confirmation of misogynistic stereotypes of women.
Methamphetamine is a stimulant for the central nervous system (O’Connor et al., 2006). This particular drug affects the pleasure sensors in the body by accelerating them to an extreme level (Siebel & Mange, 2009). Meth causes the brain to receive an abundance of dopamine, a chemical which is responsible for the sense of gratification (Siebel & Mange). According to the authors, a meth user’s brain can receive over one thousand percent of the normal levels of dopamine. This abundance of joy, commonly known as a high, can typically persist anywhere from eight hours to as long as twenty-four hours. After prolonged use, tachyphylaxis takes effect (Watanabe-Galloway, Ryan, Hansen, Hullsiek, Muli, & Malone, 2009). This is when the user does not get the same high that they had previously received from a particular dose (Watanabe-Galloway et al.). According to the authors, to fix this requires the user to increase their meth dose. After a user continuously consumes meth, they begin to lose their ability to feel pleasu...
The irony of the story is that her husband is alive, but she is dead when he reaches home. The tragic death of her husband help her to grasp the beauty of life and the fact that she does not have much more time to live it. In an hour of time she comes to peace with herself and wins her "battle".
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.
In the Middle Ages, when The Canterbury Tales was written, society became captivated by love and the thought of courtly and debonair love was the governing part of all relationships and commanded how love should be conducted. These principles changed literature completely and created a new genre dedicated to brave, valorous knights embarking on noble quests with the intention of some reward, whether that be their life, lover, or any other want. The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, accurately portrays and depicts this type of genre. Containing a collection of stories within the main novel, only one of those stories, entitled “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, truly outlines the 14th century community beliefs on courtly love.
The knight tells the woman his true feelings about her. According to Arthurian” “She is the most hideous woman he has ever seen”. Furthermore, it is unusual for a young man to marry an old women. Women have a lot of power in their appearance because a woman uses her appearance to seduce and control men. The woman inner desire in this time period is to have power over there husband. However during this time period Christians believe that a man and women should treat each other equally. According to 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body”. Woman still felt look down upon compared to men because there duties are to stay at home cook and
Going back to her prologue, The Wife seems to be criticized for something different she does by each of her husband 's. She can easily be seen as violent, demanding, too controlling, too lustful, and many other qualities. The Wife argues that no matter what women do or don’t do, they will always be criticized, “Thou seyst that som folk desiren us for richesse,/ Somme for oure shape, comme for oure fairnesse/ And som for she kan synge and daunce/ And som for gentillesse and som for/ daliaunce,/ som for hir handes and hir armes smale” (lines 257-262). While she makes a great point, she interjects these opinion’s during her tale as well. Interrupting the flow of her story to display her opinions in this way can lose the audience 's focus of the true meaning of the story. The story itself does a great job of bringing the role femininity into play without The Wife’s interjections. In the beginning of the tale, right after the queen orders the knight to go on his quest she gives him some hints. “Somme seyde wommen loven bset richesse;/ Somme seyde honour, somme seyde jolynesse,/ Somme rich array. Somme seyden lust/ abedde/ And oftetyme to be wydwe and weedde” (lines 925-928). This shows that women want more than materialistic things, contrary to popular belief. While these things aren’t bad to have, it means nothing if they do not have the power over their significant
In “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” the Wife of Bath discusses marriage, virginity, and most importantly the question of dominion. In the “Wife of Bath's Prologue,” it opens with a quote “I have the power, during all my life over his own body, and not he.”(Norton 164-165) This quote proves how much dominion and power she desired and took by default. She is a strong-willed and dominant woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. She cannot accept downfall no matter how it is presented to her. She senses that this is the way things should be and men should submit her. She should not be controlled or told what to do by others, especially by a man. She displa...