The Wife Of Bath's Tale Comparison Essay

694 Words2 Pages

Rebecca Raddohl
Ms Moen
English IV H, Period 3
19 November 2016
Comparison Essay Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale , and Giovanni Boccaccio’s Federigo’s Falcon may not seem very similar, however, they have more in common that meets the eyes. Both tales are very similar in that both characters receive a chance a chance of redemption and take the risks to get that opportunity as well. In the Wife of Bath’s Tale the knight assaults a young girl and is sentenced to death for breaking the code of chivalry. The Queen in the story grants him a chance to avoid death. Chaucer wrote, “The queen then thanked the king with all her might, And after this the queen spoke with the knight when she saw opportunity one day… I'll grant you life
The Knight does so by agreeing to marry an old women described as ugly. “And with that word up started the old wife, The one the knight had seen upon the green. ‘Mercy,’ she said, ‘my sovereign lady queen! Before your court departs, grant me my right. It's I who taught this answer to the knight, For which he gave a solemn oath to me: The first thing I request he'd do for me if it's a thing that lies within his might. Before the court I therefore pray, Sir Knight,’ She said, ‘that you will take me as your wife; For well you know that I have saved your life” (Chaucer). The Knight who did not want to marry the old woman. The only reason he had agreed was because she was able to save his life and and he agreed to sacrifice anything he could to have what the old woman gave him. Therefore he did in fact marry her. Sacrifices were made in Boccaccio's tale as well. Because Federigo’s love had requested to dine with him, he wanted her to have a meal fit enough for her. He killed and cooked his highly valued falcon to please her. Boccaccio wrote, “So, without further thought, he wrung its neck and quickly gave it to his servant girl to pluck, prepare, and place on a spit to be roasted with care; and when he had set the table with the whitest of tablecloths (a few of which he still had left), he returned, with a cheerful face, to the lady in his garden, saying that the meal he was able to prepare for her was ready” (Boccaccio). Federigo killed the only thing he had left to please a woman. He did not whether their meal together would be a pleasant one yet he was willing to kill his most prized possession to gain Monna’s

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