Analysis Of The Poem ' The Wife Of Bath ' Essay

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales presents several interesting characters, of which the most interesting is the Wife of Bath. A stand-out character meant to generate a shocking response from the reader, the Wife of Bath is both headstrong and blunt, especially for a woman of her time. Although the Wife of Bath clearly is educated in Biblical passages due to her many references to the Bible in her tale’s prologue and tale, the basis of her argument—that women should gain total sovereignty in marriage by using sex as their weapon to gain dominance—is actually undermined by her Biblical examples and her own description of her fifth marriage.

The Wife of Bath is a powerful woman who has strong beliefs about marriage, a women’s place in society, and what women want. As a woman who has been married five times, she does not believe there should be a limit on marriage. She supports her claims on marriage with a lot of biblical evidence because, “In the Middle Ages, the Bible was the ultimate source of authority on all spiritual and moral matters,” (Thanassoulis 4). The Wife of Bath’s tale challenges the Medieval view of the women's estates by saying, “Not every dish and vessel’s made of gold, / Some are of wood, yet earn their master’s praise,” (The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, Chaucer 751-752). The vessels made of gold are symbolic of virgins while the wooden vessels represent wives, the Wife of Bath acknowledges the importance of virgins but suggests that wives “earn their master's praise” or are equally if not more important than virgins. Her argument about virgins provokes the idea of a rearrangement of the women’s classes. Additionally, the Wife of Bath secures an overall message of women wanting power and authority in relationships, a new idea during her time, with supporting in lines like, “I’d mastered him, and out of deadlock / Secured myself the security in wedlock” (The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, Chaucer

She goes on explaining that people argue against her belief that God intended women to have five husbands while in the Bible God had only attended one wedding. She also mentions St. Paul and how he supported people holding on to their virginity but Wife of Bath saw it as, how can you hold on to your virginity for so long if God is requesting you to procreate, thus creating more virgins. “But I seye noght that every wight is holde, that hath swich usen hem in engendrure” (lines 135 – 137). Continuing down the whole prologue she describes how she uses her sexual power to get what she wanted from her husbands. While telling the prologue she was interrupted by the Pardoner, who is terrified about marrying due the prologue The Wife of Bath tells. During this time, Chaucer is giving the Wife of Bath a chance to speak but also presenting a misconception on woman and their rules in the church by mocking the people of the Church at the same time. Women speaking about the church were often nuns. Also during her interpretations of the bible the Prioress, Monk, Friar, and other religious figures are there listening to her prologue and tale and making no comments. Someone of true faith and religion would stop and correct her but they don't they allow her to go on. Misconception is a perfect term to describe The Wife of Bath prologue because although Chaucer is giving the Wife of Bath a chance to speak he is also going against her by allowing her to make false interpretations of the bible. Chaucer felt that men should be the only ones to make interpretations of the bible and The Wife of Bath prologue clearly depicts that

Women have the ability to get what they want, when they want it. Chaucer portrays the Wife of bath as the dominant person in her marriages. She looks at men as her trinkets to be used and played with. She moves from one man to another, always looking for more. The Wife of Bath is a control freak, wanting to have sex when she

The rights and freedom of women during the Chaucerian times were quite limited. The role of women during this time was to keep house and be a faithful wife. Men were given the luxury of leaving the house to work in the daytime and to socialize with their friends in the evening. The possibility of violence was present should a woman threaten her husband’s authority. The Wife of Bath is the antithesis of the typical medieval women. She holds an alarming power over men during a time in which men and the Church were the powerhouses. Her attitude and expressions would be looked down upon, and they would be seen as rebellious. She is a justified rebel.

During this time period, a few women had a very feminist view on the idea of marriage. This is the idea that women should have freedom in the marriage and be able to do the same things in the community as her husband. This also means that in the context of the marriage, the wife should be the most powerful and have control over her husband. This was especially expressed from the Wife of Bath as she speaks of her views in her prologue and her tale. In the Wife of Bath’s prologue, she tells that she has had four husbands before the one she has now and that she is not ashamed of her lack of virginity even as some of the community members look down on her. She doesn’t think it’s fair that “if a woman has more than one husband in her lifetime, she is frowned upon, but it is acceptable for men to remarry several times” (Marcotte). The Wife of Bath wants to have equality as a female in the social aspects of her marriage.

“I have had five husbands at the church door- if I may have been legally married so often; and all were worthy men in their different ways” (Chaucer 183). The Wife of Bath is portrayed as a very flamboyant and domineering character. She enjoys things such as romance, traveling, and talking. The Wife of Bath is a feminist who depicts through her tale her radical belief that women should have dominion over their husbands. As shown in the opening quotation, the Wife of Bath is not afraid to admit that she had experienced five marriages. The Wife of Bath’s radical beliefs are demonstrated through the phylogeny in “The Wife of Bath Prologue and Tales”, through utilizing sex to gain power, and through her feminist attitudes in each of her five marriages.

It is no secret that women throughout history have been seen as the less of two halves. In other words, they were always undervalued and held no real political/social standard within society. In fact their only job in society was to be obedient/submissive to their male counterparts. However, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, a poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer, redefine those ideals set upon women. The poem is broken up into two parts one is the prologue which includes a woman who talks about the rules set by the church and society on women. As well as how society looks upon women who live her life style. She counters these teaching by her knowledge of the bible by introducing biblical men who had more than one wife. It is later revealed that her sole purpose for doing this was not only to gain women sovereignty. But, to create an equal plane for both the husband and wife in order to formulate a happy marriage and to prove that a women can decide to be submissive or not. After the prologue comes the women tale, which she talks about each of her five husband and how she uses her feminine charm to control them. As well as a male knight who suddenly finds himself in a very dire situation and is in need of help. The same women, now old, helps the knight in exchange for his hand in marriage. Both the prologue and the tale fixate on the idea of women sovereignty; self government and it purpose to achieving a happy and successful relationship between both

example of the complicated nature of Chaucer’s belief system. On the one hand, we have many strong female characters that despite still being extremely dependant on the men in their lives, know what they want out of life. From a contrasting point of view, readers see a group of men, including Chaucer as the writer himself, making fun of the very nature of women as a whole. Is this really how Chaucer felt towards women, or is the prologue of The Wife of Bath’s Tale simply a parody of the opinions of his time?

Female stereotypes dictate that women should be attractive, seductive, and dull-witted. The Wife of Bath embodies most of these stereotypes. Within the prologue, Chaucer tells how the Wife of Bath used her husbands for sex and money. In addition to that, The Wife of Bath is also skilled at manipulating men. Also, the Wife of Bath has a gap between her teeth, which back in the Middle Ages exemplified beauty and sexiness. Having had five husbands seems like a lot, but the Wife of Bath actually desires more. People question her intentions and morals because the Bible says that you can only have one. But after having thought about it, she replies, “Take wise King Solomon of long ago; We hear he had a thousand wives or so” (259). In regards to society’s norms, she has no power or status other than that of a wife. To her society, she is seen as a sex symbol whose had multiple husbands. She is so much more than just a symbol of sex. Her intellect goes completely unnoticed. It seemed easy for her to interpret the story of King Solomon to fit her own personal life. This show that she has a deep understanding of the Bible and that she is good at manipulating things to fit her ideals. During these times, society saw women as naive, not intellectual. By making the Wife of Bath’s character insightful, Chaucer exposes that stereotype. Although she fits into the common stereotypes, she challenges the conventional one that says women should possess no intelligence.

She has not allowed her first four husbands to rule over her but in fact has turned the tide and convinced them that she should have full control. Control in the Middle ages marriage was determined by the one who controlled the wealth within the union. Her story mirrors that of the knights tale which she tells. The knight rapes a maiden and was forced to marry her, the same knight professes to know what women want, rule over men. Chaucer’s description of the wife of Bath is sexually suggestive; she is overdressed and proud and seems to invite attention. In truth it seems that she is unlike other women in that she wishes to use her body to control men. She feels that her husband should worship her and feel as though he is subservient to her. She also feels as though she knows everything there is to know about love and sex and this gives her a feeling of

Having five husbands helps her gain experience. Marrying five men is her “schooling” because while men are working hard, she is getting better at pleasuring them from experience (Chaucer 49). The only satisfaction she has is from pleasing her husband. Chaucer highlights the conflicts of the time and offers a new perspective on gender roles from a different perspective. The wife is taking control over the husband by seducing him. According to the role of women during the Middle Ages, women must remain loyal to their husbands, however, the Wife of Bath, “put little value of their love.” (Chaucer 208). The Wife of Bath cares about the amount of wealth she obtains from her husbands. Her marriages did not revolve around the idea of love. Chaucer characterizes the Wife of Bath as promiscuous; she uses her sexuality to control her husbands. Chaucer incorporates many values to characterize society. Women from the Middle Ages wanted control over their husbands, they demanded whatever they wanted. The husband was still loyal to the women after he was getting controlled. Chaucer forms a character who respects the religious belief but in the same way opposes them.

The Wife of Bath is liked by Chaucer because she is distinctive. Her distinctive traits make her appealing and memorable. The Wife of Bath got married 5 times. During the middle age, women commonly get married once. Unlike the women of the middle age the Wife of Bath acquired power. “I never would abide in bed with them if hands began to slide till they had promised ransom, paid a fee: and then I let them do their nicety.” (Pg 269) By making

In regard to “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer, the state of the woman in this time period is of debate in this piece of literature; the reader learns who the Wife of Bath truly is and eventually becomes. This is a text concerned with the position of women in society. In my daily ticket, I was focused on the person of the Wife of Bath, herself, not the character in the story, which becomes important when reading the background to the story. She uses her femininity and her body to manipulate men; she is described as “sexually promiscuous” (Brick). In regard to the character in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” the woman (the hag) is not as generalized in means of femininity, which I think is what Chaucer is going for in the text. Comparatively assessing the hag with the young woman emphasizes the gender role in which women are loosely placed in this time period and how women were viewed at this time, whether that is young and promiscuous or old and worthless.

In the Wife of Bath, Chaucer has rolled the ultimate outrageous medieval stereotype of a female character all into one woman. Before she begins her elaborate tale, the Wife of Bath begins with an introduction of herself. Explaining that she always follows the rules of having experience rather than authority. Starting at the age of twelve to the present she has already had five husbands. Marring them all, she defiantly has the experience she tells us during her prologues story also revealing that many people criticize her for this. But she will honestly say that she never loved but only two of these men for love instead of wealth. Like in the song it was all about her gain and power over them using her female wiles.