Essay about Analysis of "Alison" from the Millers Tale, Canterbury Tales

Imagery is used to positively describe the pains the wife took to make r husband happy. Even though described as “fadingly pretty” and “shy,” the woman wears a big hat to hide what she may lack in appearance.

Alison defies one's expectations. Described by the narrator as a church-going woman nonpareil, she presents herself unflatteringly in her prologue. Blinding herself to her immorality with her verbose diatribe, she interprets the scriptures, classical literature, and mythology to suit her immediate needs. By interpreting Alison's tale as wish fulfillment, however, one can grasp for a handle to her motives, hopes, and agenda. The hag exploits the knight as a means to an end, to be young and beautiful. As she gets older, Alison's fading features will not sustain her narcissism. To love herself, she must be beautiful, even if only in the eyes of her next husband.

Alison presents herself as a very open-minded individual, not just a woman. She uses sexual desire to obtain what she wants from her husbands. She was a pioneer for the sexual liberation of woman in her time. She describes how she maintained authority over her husbands by manipulation and deceit. Three of which were old, the fourth was a philanderer and the last one, Jankyn was an abuser in the beginning. She explains that she “took [Jankyn] for love and not wealth” (272). Despite his resistance to allow Alison sovereignty in the beginning, he eventually concedes and the power switches from him to her. This switch allows Alison to be in control and not have to stay within the confines of the stereotypical Middle Age woman and wife. Their relationship is then happy and peaceful once she has dominion in the marriage and she was, “kind to him /…/ and he to me” (280). Alison is content with herself and the life she has lived. The portrayal of Alison gives women a voice and

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales became one of the first ever works that began to approach the standards of modern literature. It was probably one of the first books to offer the readers entertainment, and not just another set of boring morals. However, the morals, cleverly disguised, are present in almost every story. Besides, the book offers the descriptions of the most common aspects of the human nature. The books points out both the good and the bad qualities of the people, however, the most obvious descriptions are those of the sinful flaws of humans, such as greed and lust.

While the narrator recognizes the great care with which her husband is treating her she seems to constantly feel that she is being ungrateful. She calls herself out in her journal for being a “comparative burden” (Gilman) The room in which the narrator resides has a sturdy bed that is nailed to the floor. The narrator notes that there are bars on the windows and rings hooked into the wall. She wrongly assumes that this room was used as a nursery or gymnasium by the previous owners. As the reader, we are able to instill our own thoughts that this room was in fact built to house someone with a mental disorder. This begs the question of what the house really is, to contain such a room away from decent society.

All the men notice is clutter. The men do not look deeper behind the meanings of this disarray. However, the women do. The women understand that the reason that things such as the towels are not clean is because she more than likely was busy doing her many other chores of the household. They also considered how much trouble Mrs. Wright went to fix the preserves. The women reason that the uncaring concern John had for Minnie and the attention he paid to the house perhaps forced Minnie to resort to killing. Even the County Attorney, Sheriff, and Mr. Hale could not understand all the difficulties women go through. They criticize Mrs. Wright as well as insult all women. Mr. Hale says, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles." The actions of just these men show how women were taken for granted in this era. Inevitably, the men are unable to prove that Mrs. Wright murdered her husband but are going to convict her anyway. However, the women have solved the case. They come to the conclusion that Mrs. Wright was not treated very well by her husband and was not able to withstand the mistreatment anymore. They could tell the lack of attention he paid to his wife. The men still have a hard time accepting this concept because they do not believe that men treat women badly.

All through Canterbury Tales, women are dealt with as objects in everyday life. In the “Miller’s Tale,” an old man marries a younger, attractive women for her looks. In the “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” a virgin woman has her virginity and innocence taken from her by what is suppose to be a noble and honorable knight and when his punishment is later to marry an older, less attractive women, all respect for his newly wife vanishes. A woman’s level of recognition in Canterbury Tales are through her class in society, whether she is young and beautiful, or old and disgusting, and her degree of experience in life. Women are not desired for their intelligence, wisdom and capabilities which might of kept a relationship deceitful-free. The “Wife of

Chaucer provides the reader with a vivid image of the Wife of Bath in his General Prologue, describing her as handsome and bold, with gap teeth, large hips, and a reddish hue to her face, remarking that she is deaf in one ear. “Her hose were of the finest scarlet red / And gartered tight; her shoes were soft and new” (15). This description not only provides a clear image of the Wife but also signifies her personality. Gap teeth, at the time, were considered attractive. Her large hips and her attempt to hide them represent her age and her attempt to conceal it. Declared by critic Edward Wagenknecht, “The Wife finds growing old a tragedy” (par 1). Additionally, the color red signifies her connection with

Alison in the Miller's Tale and May of the Merchant's Tale are similar in several ways. Both are young women who have married men much older than themselves. They both become involved with young, manipulative men. They also conspire to and do cuckold their husbands. This is not what marriage is about and it is demonstrated in both tales. What makes the Miller's Tale bawdy comedy and the Merchant's tale bitter satire is in the characterization. In the Miller's tale we are giving stereotyped characters. The principals are cardboard cut-outs sent into farcical motion. The Merchant's Tale gives us much more background and detail of the character's lives. The reader is more involved and can

Although it is the wife who is always looking for a husband in her personal life, in the Wife’s tale, it is the man who is forced to find what it is that all women desire. In the end he is obligated to marry, while the Wife is always excited to marry her next husband. The Wife wants the woman in the marriage to make the decisions and to have power, which is also seen in the old woman in her tale. In her tale, the old woman basically tricks the man into marrying her, and then into kissing her. This gives her control and she can then reveal her true self.

In this section the carpenter is: ironically fooled by his wife; used as a comparison in order to cast ridicule on Arcite's and Palamon's fervent love of Emelye; an example of the folly of age, rather than the wisdom that was developed in Theseus; and, of course, set up as the climax's 'fall guy'.

Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale” focus on the story telling of a woman who has experienced her fair share of marital issues. She is depicted as a promiscuous woman, married five times and had plenty of male suitors, the Wife was not like any other woman during this era. Although her reputation was how most perceived her, she was not a fan of being scrutinized for what she considered as her duty as a woman; to not remain single. This is seen through the depiction of women in society, how marriage ought to be in the eyes of religion, and how men were to view a woman like her. The language that is used throughout Chaucer’s prologue and tale allude to the evolution of women as well as how they struggled to gain any recognition in

In the 21st century, many women have been successful because of feminism. Women empowerment in our current time is a lot strong than in the Medieval period, but it is still weak. In “The Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer it represents strong feminist characters in, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”. The characters such as a Wife of Bath, an old hag, and also a Queen from “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale,” play a feminist character in the male-dominated society during that time. Through these three characters, we see strong examples of feminism.

It is evident that "The Young Housewife" is a very sexually charged poem. Through its subject matter, its language, its imagery, and even its use of phrasing, Williams accentuates the young housewife's seductive and almost unrestrained nature. For instance, He describes her moving about behind closed doors, dressed in negligee, or going to the curb un-corseted to call ice-man, or allowing her hair to hang freely, only periodically tucking it in. All of these images suggest strongly that the young housewife is a natural and unrestrained character. She is free any imposed social constraints that has the power to squelch her pristine and almost wild nature.

However, there is a deviation in each the Prioress and Wife at Bath’s experiences. The Prioress represents a model of a “religious” person. She possesses good table manners and pretended to be rich. The Prioress also spoke a lower form of French. This indicates that she is educated. On the other hand, the Wife at Bath has had different life experiences that have molded her to become the women that she is in the story. The Wife at Bath has traveled to other pilgrimages throughout the Middle East. She has also had five different husbands, meaning she has had a heavy sexual experience, unlike the Prioress.