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Analysis of the wife of bath's prologue and tale
Analysis of the wife of bath's prologue and tale
Women's rights during the Elizabethan era
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The Wife Of Bath’s Tale is a magnificent story, that relates and under covers what every women wants, and what every man dreads. This tale is very unique concerning how rebellious it was to the views of the time period it was written in and even in the values that are set in stone today. Chaucer did an excellent job of expressing his outward views towards the subject of how women should be treated. The story starts off with a Knight who has just been convicted on the crimes of rape on a young lady, he is condemned to death by hanging, until the queen chirps up and makes a deal with him, if he can come back in one year and a day and tell her what every women wants then he will be hanged. The knight runs around for that entire year, soul …show more content…
He runs around the kingdom with no success, and is unable to find a suitable answer to the question, on one that all the women could agree on, oh the irony! Finally, when he is all out of hope and about to come back empty handed he comes along an old women who tells him his final answer, and the correct one at that, “‘My liege and lady, in general,’ said he, ‘A woman wants a self-same sovereignty Over her husband as over her lover, And master him; he must not be above her. That is your greatest wish, whether you kill or spare me; please yourself. I wait your will.’” (Page 143 Lines 183-188). This statement is basically just saying that all women want to have their own free will, and to have power over those of the opposite …show more content…
What inferences that are made that shows you that the knight did in fact learn his lesson is from the old lady’s response to him giving her the choice to do whatever she wanted in the manner that she threw at him in the first place. “‘And have I won the Mastery?’ said she, ‘Since I’m to choose and rule as I think fit?’ ...’Kiss me,’ she cried. ‘No quarrels! On my oath And word of honor, you shall find me both... .’” (Page 149 Lines 382-386). She is so excited that he has given her the decision on her own that she exclaims and swears that she will be both just for him, he definitely learned his
The main theme of the Wife of baths tale is the two of the seven deadly sins “lust and greed”.
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.
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.
Unlike any other character that Chaucer has spoken of the knight is the only one that seems to actually be living up to his role in society. This question me on how truth full, every description is of each and every character. A knight code of conduct is to be polite to others, even those who are lower in ranking than he is. The knight is suppose to serve the king, fight for what he believes in, and be honorable.
...e and foolish people can act while in love; this is something that many stories try to teach their readers. Finally, somehow, Chaucer may have been reaching out to women with The Wife of Bath's Tale, although some believe she is used as an anti-feminist tool, perhaps Chaucer's point was to have that woman teach other women the positives of being in control. No matter what message these women bring, Chaucer clearly appreciates their importance not only to his readers, but also to his tales.
Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale" is a medieval legend that paints a portrait of strong women finding love and themselves in the direst of situations. It is presented to the modern day reader as an early tale of feminism showcasing the ways a female character gains power within a repressive, patriarchal society. Underneath the simplistic plot of female empowerment lies an underbelly of anti-feminism. Sometimes this is presented blatantly to the reader, such as the case of Janekin's reading aloud from "The Book of Wikked Wives" (The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale 691). However, there are many other instances of anti-feminism that may not scream so loudly to the reader. This is shown in the disappearance of the rape victim and the happy ending for the Knight. While the overall story is one of supposed feminism shown through women's empowerment, there are many aspects of "The Wife of Bath" that are anti-feminist in nature.
In the tale that Geoffrey Chaucer had wrote, The Wife of Bath’s Tale, a man was described as a Knight. This Knight wasn’t like any normal Knight, he messed up and raped a girl. This is a big mistake, giving a lot of Knights a bad name, and having those that look up to them start to be disappointed in them. Usually the punishment that is given to those that rape, or in general any other crime, is death or time in the slammer, however, the Queen says no because he is a good looking guy. Instead of death, he had find out what women most desire from men. He is given a year and a day to find out, and on the last day, when he nearly had given up all hope, he sees an old woman in a field who makes a deal with him. The old lady gives the Knight a choice: to have an old, but faithful, wife, or to have a drop-dead gorgeous woman, but to have her never to be faithful, before she tells him what the Queen wants to know. The old lady and Knight get married and she wants him to sleep with her, like husbands are supposed to do with their wives. They argue and she gives him the two choices again; to have an ugly wife, but she is faithful. The other choice is to have a drop-dead gorgeous wife, but is never faithful. With this, he learns a lesson, and sufficient punishment.
“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.
Though Chaucer showed multiple tales of various characters in The Canterbury Tales, the Miller’s and Wife of Bath’s tale surpassed them all on their concept of marriage and love. Both allow the reader to understand where they are coming from and their perception. While one does not seem to believe too much in love, the other does. However, both clearly believe that women control the game of love in their own respective ways.
First, the knight is giving two choices by the old woman; either he can pick her or someone else. The old woman’s actual words were “’You have two choices: which one will you try? To have me old and ugly till I die, but still a loyal, true and humble wife or would you rather I were young and pretty and chance your arm what happens in a city where friends will visit you because of me, yes, and in other places too, maybe. Which would you have? The choice is all your own.’” ([Prentice Hall Literature] page 149 lines 365-373). For the knight, this is a simple answer which he throws the question back at the old women, saying that you pick for me. Giving her the power to c...
To the average modern day reader “The Wife’s Tale” is seen as an early account of feminism, a rare story that showcases the ways that a female character gains power in a restrictive, patriarchal society. It seemingly carries the supposed theme of female empowerment but in actuality is a cover for a seething underbelly of anti-feminism. Anti-feminism is any belief that opposes feminism, and can be so ingrained in readers that it is difficult to separate anti-feminism from true feminism. Through the unfavorable portrayal of the Wife of Bath, the dismissal of various female characters, and the glorification of male superiority, Chaucer’s work is not a forerunner of feminism but rather a narrative of medieval misogyny. Chaucer in his prologue
At the time of Chaucer’s writing, English knights had fallen out of favor as new forms of warfare began to take over. Still, chivalry remained an important aspect of authority, a model for behavior at the time. Chaucer brings in elements of chivalry to tell “The Knight’s Tale.” Palamon and Arcite fight an idealized, courtly battle for the love of a woman. Critique of authority in “The Knight’s Tale” is rather subtle, and appears through the use of fortune, which plays a large role. Though the knights are in a high station in their world, neither are immune to misfortune. By portraying fortune as the ultimate power in the world, Chaucer undermines constructed power of the knights and the court. Chaucer leaves these contradictions open for interpretation, allowing power to be questioned without outright dismissing
Chaucer satirizes knights and chivalry in two different ways: in the prologue and in the Knight's Tale. The first way in the prologue is with the pilgrim Knight's character. Chaucer wanted to present a realistic knight, but he also wanted to give the Knight some very real, and obvious flaws, as a sort of social commentary on the way that knight's were perceived in the 14th century. To that end, he gave the Knight some qualities that could be termed as the antithesis of the qualities that a good and honorable knight should have. The second way I see Chaucer as satirizing chivalry is through the Knight's Tale. The Knight's Tale presents the "ideal" knights. They follow the codes of chivalry. They follow the graces of courtly love. They have duels. Have battle honorably. And, they also make fools of themselves on more than one occasion. Palamon and Arcita are so perfect, that they become parodies of the perfect knights. And, in the end of the tale, everyone ends up somewhat unhappy, and there is no clear winner. By writing this parody, Chaucer is trying to convey the idea that a lot of the ideals of chivalry are a bit silly. And, as all of the different tales reflect back on the characters of the pilgrims who tell them, the ideas in the Knight's Tal...
The Wife of Bath 's prologue and tale has a very personal authenticity to it. Although Geoffrey Chaucer is the author, the wife of Bath takes agency to talk about herself and her experiences. It is almost as if the wife speaks for him. The expectations of married women, at the time The Canterberry Tales were written, were to be modest, true and obedient wives. The wife of Bath, however, admits to using her own experiences as the source of her knowledge in marriage, and not the views of society. It is the fact that she relies on her internal thoughts and experiences that allows one to see her (and Chaucer 's) personal insight on the desires of married women. Although some may say that the wife of bath is simply looking for dominion over her husbands, Chaucer characterizes the wife of bath as a bold woman, and also uses the first person point of
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.