The Role Of Women In Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

In a society, there are many different opinions on how a women figure is seen. These ideas have changed overtime with the progress of women bring consider equal to men. There are two ways a woman can be interpreted, one brings lower to the men and the other being equal to men. Women play an important role in shaping lives, directly or indirectly. The tales depicted in this book shows the reader the broader insight of how women were seen as in previous years. The different ideas of what women meant to men are seen in the tales told by the characters in the book, mostly the men. The perspective of a woman for a male and a female is different. If we were to compare two tales from each side, the opinion would only be in favour for the individual who is narrating the tale. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”, the role of women is portrayed in two different ways, one

In this novel, in comparison, there are more men than women. Most of the tales told by the men stretch over a wide range of how female should be. On the other hand, the women tend to focus on one idea and stick to it to prove their point. Since there are more men, the women tend to loose the importance and focus from the men. The women figure in this book are the Prioress, the Wife of Bath, and the Second Nun. Chaucer description of the women in this novel is very stereotypical. Although he describes them with great elegance and respect, there is always a condition to it. These conditions then tend to leave no importance for the reader. The Nun is described a “charitable solicitous” who “weep[s] is she … saw a mouse caught in a trap”1. These small details put a wrong impression on the readers therefore leaving no interest and meaning for the tales the women have to say. Even after the tales are done, the Host says things that discourage the