Wife of Bath in Chaecer's Canterbury Tales
analytical Essay
901 words
In the Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer the story tells about men and women going on pilgrimages, among them the Wife of Bath in search of her 6th husband, who go on a journey to pay their respect to Sir Thomas á Becket. During the story the Wife of Bath strongly expresses herself as a very strong woman and knows what she expects with the men shes with. As well as this, with all her beauty and respect she was given in life the Wife of Bath displays herself highly. Finally, she ideals her actions with the knowledge she knows from the Bible. Therefore, because of her control, beauty, and knowledge the Wife of Bath is a woman that most women would look up to. With the Wife of Bath's five different husbands and the search of a new one, she didn't only know what she wanted but how to get it, she did this through ways of being controlling and selfish, but still, came out succeeding at the end of her relationships. The Wife of Bath, with her simple words of the five men she had been with, it was easily detailed with what mattered to her "they were good, and rich, and old, they were scarcely able to keep the statute by which they were bound to me" (p. 191). This is an explaination of exactly what she wanted and how she was able to be continue to be stable. Her unbelieveable control for the husbands she had, in which she thought they would be her "debtor and slave" (p. 189). Chaucer is expressing the sexual, as well as, the controlling side of the Wife of Bath, this also shows the unrealistic expectations she brought forth. At last, she tells exactly how she feels "you should speak thus and put them in the wrong, for no man can perjure himself and lie half so boldly as a woman can" (p. 193). Convicing her husbands ... ... middle of paper ... ...ity, this knowledge was important. Chaucer details of society in that day in age, as well as, his detailed information of the Wife of Bath encompassed values in which women still admire today. Women still seek to have a more powerful role in society, even though still today there is a struggle to reach the top. Still today, the perfection you bring to your personal appearance gets your farther in life. Finally, when the reliance in the Bible and how still to this day church and state combine ideas, having a knowledge of the stories in the Bible shows a woman that is full of morals, values, and a good standard of living. Because of all of this, the Wife of Bath showed many sides of herself that may be hard to believe but yet still the backbone of all of it, is what most women try to do with their lives: be stable, powerful, happy, beautiful, and good morals.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer's canterbury tales tells about men and women going on pilgrimages, among them the wife of bath in search of her 6th husband, who goes on a journey to pay respect to sir thomas á becket.
- Analyzes how chaucer expresses the sexual, as well as, the controlling side of the wife of bath, which also shows the unrealistic expectations she brought forth.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath flaunted herself and was proud of what she had. chaucer protrayed her having elegance when she was young and full of wantonness.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath's story shows her pride in herself and her knowledge of christian beliefs and the bible.
Related
- analytical
- The Wife Of Bath In Chaucer's The Canterbury Talesanalytical essayThe Wife of Bath is one of the most famous characters within Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. In her prologue, it is quickly made clear that she has had a lot of husbands and by a lot I mean five. Since she has all this experience with men, The Wife of Bath dedicates her prologue to describing how each of her marriages went. In her five marriages she has been accused of lusting too much, to being too controlling, and being abused. While some good husbands were good and some were bad, The Wife of Bath depicts a solid image of her feelings toward men. In her relationships, she must always have the upper hand. She is the type of woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. While describing one of her marriages, The Wife of Bath explains how
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the wife of bath depicts a solid image of her feelings toward men, including power, femininity, and the importance of appearance.
- Analyzes how the knight holds power over the woman in which he raped and presents himself in front of a court full of powerful women. the queen and her ladies decide to give him one year to find the answer to her question.
- Narrates how the knight decides to ask the ugly hag for help after almost a year of searching for an answer to his wife's request of payment.
- Analyzes how the knight gives up his power to solve the queen's riddle, the hag, and the ugly hag for the rest of his life. the story must end in a happy way to please the audience
- Analyzes how the wife of bath does a great job of bringing the role of femininity into play without her interjections.
- Analyzes how the role of appearance is a big theme in both the wife of bath's prologue and tale.
- Analyzes how the knight doesn't want to marry the hag for her age and appearance, but she wants to be loved and respected. the wife of bath uses this theme wisely.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath packs a great deal of information into her prologue and tale. the themes of appearance and femininity follow under the main section of power.
1765 wordsRead More - Chaucer's Wife of Bathanalytical essayChaucer's Wife of Bath Before beginning any discussion on Chaucer’s Wife of Bath, one must first recognize that, as critic Elaine Treharne writes, “Critical response to the Wife of Bath has been as diverse as it has been emotive” (2). Some critics love the Wife of Bath and her controversial prologue, proclaiming that she is a woman of strength and powerful words; others hate her and cover the eyes of younger girls, determined that Wife of Bath is instead a role model of what women should not be; and the rest remain a bit confused, simply excusing themselves and the Wife herself. The question of whether or not the Wife of Bath ought to be admired or scorned continues to provoke a number of hands to raise in the air, ready to present yet another explanation or answer. Mothers continue to cover eyes and uncover eyes, not sure if the Wife of Bath is someone their younger generation should look up to. Although I understand the mothers’ hesitancy, I think they should reconsider before masking young eyes.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that critics love the wife of bath and her controversial prologue, while others hate her and cover the eyes of younger girls, determined that she is instead a role model of what women should not be.
- Analyzes how elaine hansen explains that the wife of bath defies the stereotype of the passive, submissive, and fundamentally silent female.
- Analyzes how cook raises his hand and has a far different answer than hansen to the question of the wife's respectability.
- Analyzes how burlin blames the wife's controversial character on her surroundings, using them as a scapegoat.
- Opines that the wife of bath is a complex, controversial character, but they find bits of truth about her throughout each critic's discussion.
- Opines that the wife of bath is not a poor thing and should not be pitied. she is bold and outspoken.
- Agrees with susan hagen's interpretation of the wife of bath. both women fight against stereotypes of women and feed into them by flaunting their sexuality and powerful words.
- Analyzes how the wife's selective appeals to authority, her need for public approval despite private viciousness, and her constant discomfort in marriages are symptomatic of the uneasy state of her soul.
- Argues that the wife of bath is too complex to understand; critics like burlin excuse themselves from the debate.
- Describes chaucer, geoffrey, and cook, james w. "the wife of bath's prologue and tale."
- Explains that hagen, susan, and treharne, elaine, have written about chaucer's wife of bath.
2469 wordsRead More - Wife Of Bath Character Analysisanalytical essayIn Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer opens describing twenty-nine people who are going on a pilgrimage. Each person has a dissimilar personality that we can recognize from the way people behave today. He creates The Wife of Bath to stand out more compared to the other characters that are involved in these stories. In Chaucer’s “General Prologue,” the Wife of Bath was described as a woman who was intentionally described in an obvious way to provoke a shocking response. The Wife carries a lot of experience with things; she is a worldly person and has experience in the ways of the world in a sense of love and sex. Her clothes, physical features and references to her past are intentionally discussed by Chaucer causing the reader to wonder how well she is such a flamboyant and extravagant character. She shows off her clothes with evident pride, her face is wreathed in heavy cloth, her stockings are a fine scarlet color, and the leather in her shoed is soft and fresh. Her clothing symbolizes to the reader that she is not fearful or shy, and also shows off her expertise as a weaver.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer creates the wife of bath to stand out more compared to the other characters that are involved in these stories.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath discusses marriage, virginity, and the question of dominion. she is a strong-willed and dominant woman who gets what she wants.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath uses the bible as justification to excuse her behavior. she discusses her lives with her five husbands and how she ruled them according to her own law and way.
- Narrates how the woman does not establish authority over her fifth husband which, it seems to excite her because she likes the challenge it bring.
- Analyzes how the deaf woman snatches the book and rips pages out, making her husband mad and hitting her. she pretends to be dead to make him feel guilty.
- Opines that the wife of bath is not a feminist fighting for the rights of all women. she claims to know what pleasures men because she is experienced in love and sex.
645 wordsRead More - The One and Only Wife of Bathanalytical essayThe One and Only Wife of Bath In The Canterbury tales, Chaucer uses The Wife of Bath as a representation of what it was like for Women in the Middle Ages to be striped of equality and bow to the otherwise male dominated society. For the representation of women Chaucer uses the Tales of “The Scholar”, “The Second Nun “The Reeve’s”, and “The Franklin” and many others in a very dry, pretentious manner to steer readers into the view of how a women of the Middle Ages should be as a so called “virtuous” wife or woman. The concept of marriage plays a major part in manifesting the idea of the issues of inferiority of women. The perception rendered as women having to be obedient and inferior figure to their husbands or male counter parts. Chaucer gives give the audience much to think about in terms of The Wife of Baths being she is the total opposite to women of her time.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer uses the wife of bath as a representation of what it was like for women in the middle ages to be striped of equality and bow to the otherwise male dominated society.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath's prologue captures a prime image of who she truly is and the society women are dealing with.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath expands on what was said about women and negative connotations that are placed upon them.
- Analyzes how the symbolism of bread stands out in the wife of bath's prologue. she uses different types of flours to project the imagery of aging.
- Analyzes how chaucer uses the wife of bath to take a stab at the condition of knights and order of "chivalry".
- Analyzes how the queen's role in the story is similar to that of the wife of bath.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath kicks dirt on the cliché idea of women as an obedient figure to man.
- Analyzes how chaucer allows the tale to project the courage of women as well as in a biblical sense.
- Analyzes how griselda in "the scholar's tale" is not as defiant as the wife of bath. chaucer sends a subliminal message by stating for the wives to take control for themselves and their marriages.
- Analyzes how chaucer's "the reeves tale" depicts a society where men saw women as personal property and replaced them as objects.
- Analyzes how the remedy of the seven deadly sins is introduced at the very end of all the pilgrims' tales.
- Analyzes how chaucer's "marriage groups" (kittredge) illustrates the unfairness of society towards women in marriage.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath compliments chaucer's modernistic way of thinking in terms of women and their roles. it shows the disconnection between women, society and christianity.
2763 wordsRead More - 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer hints at the wife's infidelity in the general prologue.
- Analyzes how chaucer spins antifeminist sentiments into the wife's dialogue and portrayal. she epitomizes the misogynous description of women.
- Analyzes the predilection of the woman in the prologue. she wanted men neither for love or companionship, but only for money.
- Explains m.h. abrams' the norton anthology of english literature, sixth edition, volume i. w.w. norton & company, new york/london, 1993.
- Describes chaucer's canterbury tales and norton anthology of world masterpieces.
- Analyzes how chaucer's the canterbury tales portrays the wife of bath as a strong woman who loudly states her opinions about antifeminist sentiments.
- Analyzes how the wife's sexual innuendoes support the antifeminist view that women are sexual objects and to be treated as such.
- Analyzes how the wife sees no reason to please her husbands unless, in doing so, she receives profit or goods from the act, which clearly diminishes her credibility.
- Analyzes how chaucer could have made the wife's character more credible and her arguments better supported if he was so inclined.
1220 wordsRead More - Geoffrey Chaucer's Caterbury Talesanalytical essayThe Canterbury Tales are a series of tales written, by Geoffrey Chaucer, about the journeys of pilgrims to Canterbury. Geoffrey Chaucer did not begin writing these tales until he was in his late forties and due to his late arrival with this piece, Chaucer died before he could complete these epic tales (Librarius). Within these many tales Chaucer wrote one in particular tale of a character named the Wife of Bath. He also characterized her with a prologue and wrote a tale from her point of view. The Wife of Bath represents the new age of women coming about within the Middle Ages. Women were no longer excepting being property to a man nor being a simple house wife; women were beginning to stand up for one another and have a voice in society. The Wife of Bath had dominant, forceful views on how women should treat their husbands and believed that women should have power and control.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how geoffrey chaucer writes a tale from the wife of bath's point of view. the theme and moral of the story plays in quite well with the character and opinions.
- Analyzes how geoffrey chaucer wrote the canterbury tales about pilgrims to canterbury. the wife of bath represents the new age of women in the middle ages.
- Analyzes how chaucer chose the wife of bath to present the knight's tell because the moral and theme parallels with her way of thinking and her own beliefs in life.
- Explains chaucer, geoffrey, the canterbury tales, 1387, elements of literature. austin: holt, rhinehart,and winston, 2008.
743 wordsRead More - Women In Chaucer's The Canterbury Talesanalytical essayIn medieval England, society’s roles were dominated by men and women were either kept at home or doing labor work. Among the most famous medieval English literature, “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer, lies ‘The Wife of Bath's Prologue’ and ‘The Wife of Bath's Tale.’ Within, Chaucer shares his perspective of the Wife of Bath, the Queen, and the Crone. Through the use of symbolism and diction, Chaucer aims to change society’s expectations of women.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer's "the canterbury tales" aims to change society’s expectations of women through symbolism and diction.
- Analyzes how chaucer characterizes the women in "the wife of bath's tale" as wise. the queen allows the knight to venture out into the world to learn more about women.
- Analyzes how the crone understands human nature well and is willing to guarantee that she has an accurate assessment of what women truly desire.
568 wordsRead More - Canterbury Tales Self Analysisanalytical essayWhile Chaucer believes that people find a way of establishing their identity through public experiences and private experiences, you notice that The Wife of Bath’s private experiences never end up being private. This is because throughout the story she is constantly defying all social norms that were established in the 1400s. The Wife of Bath believes in the power one has over their body and over their emotions and constantly shows that in how she portrays marriage and sex. The Wife uses her power as a tool to control her husbands and when the marriage fails she simply moves on, claiming that the marriage no longer benefited her in any means possible. Now The Wife, in her attempt to use her intellectual power, often has errors in some of her logic, which results in her not fully having intellectual power. The constant need for power and authority over men, both sexually and intellectually, seem to be what drives this character to act the way she
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the public sphere can provide a space for one’s private values to manifest themselves. chaucer shows how one can develop their views through private experiences and how they display themselves in public space.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath uses marriage as a vessel for power. she holds this view due to her experience with her previous marriages.
- Explains that the wife of bath views virginity in an untraditional manner due to her past experiences with love and sex in her life.
- Explains that the wife of bath believes that virginity does not necessarily grant absolute acceptance from christ.
1423 wordsRead More - Chaucers Canterbury Talesanalytical essayThe man goes on to make many mistakes, making decisions the lady should be making, or thinks she should be making. And with that the Wife of Bath has held 5 husbands and is in search of her 6th we do not know if this lady has been lonely all of her life or not but we know she wants control and seems to enjoy struggling to get it. The Wife of Bath most enjoyed her last 2 husbands because she had the least control over them. She enjoyed this because it was a challenge but she was always working towards having her way. This philosophy was way out of date for the time period Chaucer wrote it in because he Wife of Bath is also like the queen. She likes to have the money and riches and the queen is what she wants to be a woman in her time who has power, and that the queen doth have. But overall the old hag, who has beauty in a different way, seems to be the Wife of Bath. What we also have to wonder is if the woman figure is being made out to be naïve or cynical. Depending on how you look it depends on how you may take it if you see her as controlling and that she has forced the man to say that she can mak...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer artfully matches a pilgrim's tale to the teller.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath is the most forthright exposition of the role women did not have but could have in that time period.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath has held 5 husbands and is in search of her 6th husband. the old hag is nave, idealistic, and gossipy.
- Compares the prioress to whoopi goldberg in sister act.
- Explains that the friar is a member of the mendicants, which means he travels around so that people can repent their sins. he bribes the innkeepers to give him food and shelter while others are sleeping in dirt streets.
- Analyzes how chaucer's portraits of the clergy and church related position show evidence of a religious system full of corruption and hypocrisy.
- Explains that the church has come a long way since these times but it has very little power compared to what it had in the past.
2355 wordsRead More - The Wife of Bathanalytical essayOne of the most interesting and widely interpreted characters in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is the Wife of Bath. She has had five different husbands and openly admits to marrying the majority of them for their money. The wife appears to be more outspoken and independent than most women of medieval times, and has therefore been thought to symbolize the cause of feminism; some even refer to her as the first actual feminist character in literature. Readers and scholars probably argue in favor of this idea because in The Canterbury Tales, she uniquely gives her own insight and opinions on how relations between men and women should be carried out. Also, the meaning of her tale is that virtually all women want to be granted control over themselves and their relationship with their husbands, which seems to convince people that the Wife of Bath should be viewed as some sort of revolutionary feminist of her time. This idea, however, is incorrect. The truth is that the Wife of Bath, or Alisoun, merely confirms negative stereotypes of women; she is deceitful, promiscuous, and clandestine. She does very little that is actually empowering or revolutionary for women, but instead tries to empower herself by using her body to gain control over her various husbands. The Wife of Bath is insecure, cynical towards men in general, and ultimately, a confirmation of misogynistic stereotypes of women.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the wife of bath is an interesting character in chaucer's the canterbury tales. she is outspoken and independent and symbolizes the cause of feminism.
- Analyzes how alisoun's insecurities stifle her from realizing that there are other ways for her to obtain what she wants.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath's cynicism towards men is evident in her tale.
- Analyzes how the wife of bath's insecurity and cynicism are just two of the ways in which alisoun fulfils negative stereotypes of women.
956 wordsRead More