Gender Roles In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

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In the satirical anthology The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer points out the irony in how women were able to control the men’s actions despite being below men in the social hierarchy. Through this, he demonstrates how love is a powerful force that can break the social constraints that men established over the women. He proves his point by first establishing a setting where women are depicted as helpless beings, only to have them gain power over men, controlling them through their appearances and actions. However, he argues that while this silent power shift may initially shock a society with firm gender roles, women gaining more control can be beneficial in improving the dynamic of relationships.z
In each of the stories as well as the prologue, …show more content…

For instance, Absolon, who is competing with Nicholas for Alison’s love, was desperate so “a little after cock-crow, [he] took his stand beside the casement window close at hand” and began to play music outside Alison’s window (93). Not only is this scene disturbing, but it reverses the role of women and men. Women usually had to spend a great amount of effort in appearing important, but Absolon’s obsession with Alison motivated him to take extreme measures to just receive any attention from Alison, in this case in the form of a kiss. Once again, the fact that women were considered a prized possession, meant that she had significant power over men, in this case, sexual power as multiple men were interested in …show more content…

She would accuse them of cheating, falsely claiming that they were hypocrites who constantly “[whispered] secrets to [their] maid,” yet believed that “if [a woman] had a pretty face, she’s game for any fornicator” (283). By pointing out the disparity between how promiscuous men and women were treated in society, she uses guilt to force her husbands to treat her in order to win back her attention. In society, women were expected to stay quiet and not question anything, but the wife of bath completely ignored this stereotype, speaking out not only to voice her own opinions but also to empower herself in a world where her life was largely decided by her husbands’

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