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The canterbury tales characters essay
Characterisation of the Canterbury tales
The canterbury tales characters essay
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Anti-Feminist Rhetoric in The Wife Of Bath
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.
Chaucer chooses to make a comedy of the Wife, putting into question the seriousness of her character. What opinion is the reader to make of a woman who rants about marriage and female domination when she is described as a clown prepared for battle in the General Prologue ? Her bright red stockings, bold scarlet face, shield-like hat and sharp spurs draw the picture of a silly, if not crazy, woman whose manner is larger than life. The Wife's comical 'larger than life' characteristics apply to her feminist beliefs as well. Equal coexistence is not enough; she says men "shall be bothe my dettour and my thral "-something likely unheard of when this piece was written. Much of what makes her comical is the plethora of sexual innuendoes dispersed throughout her dialogue. For instance, when she irrelevantly mentions in her tale the eager friars that have
replaced the fairies of old:
Wommen may go saufly up and down:
In every bussh or under every tree,
Ther is n...
... middle of paper ...
... easily state Chaucer's support of the Wife's opinions, it is important to note the disabling of her arguments and credibility, as it brings into serious question Chaucer's intent with the Wife of Bath.
Footnotes:
458-60, 471-75
Wife's Prologue, 161
Wife's Tale, 884
Wife's Prologue, 585
M.H. Abrams, et al; ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume I. W.W. Norton & Company, New York/London, 1993.
Wife's Prologue, 149
Wife's Prologue, 186-9
463
Wife's Prologue, 4
General Prologue, 465-70
Wife's Prologue, 563
Wife's Prologue, 549-68
Wife's Prologue, 44-6
216-20
Wife's Prologue, 233-4
Wife's Prologue, 540-4
Works Cited:
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed Mack, Maynard et al. W. W. Norton and Co. New York, NY. 1992.
In the words of the Broadview Anthology’s introduction to the Wife of Bath, she is “a sexually experienced cynic who teaches young people the tricks of love…. The Wife’s history and the literary shape of her prologue conform to many of the traditional misogynistic stereotypes found in her husband’s book” (Broadview 298). Why would Chaucer write such a clever portrayal of personal pleasure through the eyes of a woman, and yet design her to possess every quality so despised and abhorred within her so-called lifetime? Because the audience of this poem would probably include wives, and because everything the Wife describes is almost laughably vulgar, it can be understood that this poem would not be interpreted literally and women would instead be forced to listen to an account about female power, desire, and pleasure written, unfortunately, as cruel satire of their
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The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that the events in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, are the result of the hero’s self determination and restless attempt to escape a terrifying destiny predicted for him by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. My intention is to prove that although the Fates play a crucial part in the story, it is Oedipus'choices and wrong doing that ultimately lead to his downfall.
...en compared with modern day women this is a truly outdated stereotype that carries very little weight if any at all. Chaucer’s work in the Wife of Bath stereotypes women as manipulating, sinful, and yearning to gain power over their husbands. And although not always projected in an entirely negative light, it seems that as a whole Chaucer attempted to create an evil stereotype of women.
Abrams, M.H., et al. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. 2 Vols. New York: Norton, 1993.
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The age of the internet has thrown some real challenges to Computer Misuse Act 1990. As per the Government changes to this part of legislation, to address the main two challenges a) the increased number of “Denial of Service” attacks b) the creation and dissemination of number of hackers and the tools used by them. The Computer Misuse Act 1990 (CMA) underwent minor changes a) The crime of un-authorized access to the material on the computer is now an offence that is liable to a judicial trial b) the offence of unauthorized material modification on the computer is now replaced by offence of unauthorized acts with intent to harm the operation of the device. Hacking has been a huge problem almost for the time Internet has been in existence. Most people just love to try and break into any computer system. Before 1990, there was no law to address the problems that are caused by hacking. Though everyone knew that it is against the law, nothing that anyone could do about it. As the issue grew, it has become evident that specific legislation was needed to prosecute the hackers under the law. Hacking seen morally as the breach of privacy. The act came into force on 29th August 1990
Abrams, M.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993.
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Abrams, M. H., et al., The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1986.
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Morgan implies, “Geoffrey Chaucer is a major influential figure in the history of English literature.” Chaucer battled problem that we face today. Chaucer fights the idea of the patriarchy by creating the character The Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath challenges the idea that men are better than women. Chaucer claims on page 145 line 212, “Less than your wife, nay, than your very love.” The Wife of Bath wouldn’t listen to any man over her. She was an independent woman that only listened to