Arguments For Favor Of Marriage

“She wishes she had asked him to explain more of what he meant. But she was impatient…to be done with sewing. With doing everything for three children, alone…” (1125, 3), and “Respect, a chance to build. Her children at last from underneath the detrimental wheel. A chance to be on top” (1124, 2) both reveal the motives behind getting married to this man, despite the religious conflict. She is torn between the pros and cons of this new life. It’s although she is trying to convince herself, but the negative thoughts just keep surfacing.

She makes a very witty statement when she says that of we were all virgins how would we get more virgins, “And surely if no seed were ever sown, / From where then would virginity be grown?” (71-72) We must partake in sexual acts to allow procreation and thus a population. Thus a woman who is open about her desires and how she uses her sexuality to get what she wants should not be looked down on, as men have been doing this very same thing for eons.

This, however, is not what Alisoun believes, which is why she does not blindly trust authorities' interpretations of the Scriptures. She firmly believes that it is her right to remarry after being widowed and thus boldly defends this right. In her defense, she recounts the story of the Samaritan woman that Jesus commanded to marry her fifth man with whom she was living with out of wedlock. Also, she provides the examples of Solomon, Abraham, and Jacob, all of whom had multiple wives while being followers of God. Furthermore, she argues it is God's command to be fruitful and multiply contraire to what the churches' interpretations of the Bible’s teachings are. The Wife of Bath truly believes that her ways are closer to the real teachings than the church is. (SparkNotes Editors)

Also, in chapter six, she is still talking about her marriage, but feels it is important to explain that in the old rules, only important people had marriages and inheritances. All the unimportant people were worthy of were ungodly acts of sin. To me, she comes off as block headed and stuck up, as if anyone without royal descendants wasn’t capable of anything more.

Of whom i have picked out the very best, for both their nether purse and money chest."(The wife of Bath’s 44-46) during that time people belief was that widows should not remarried but become nuns or stay single for the rest of their lifetime, something that did not sit well with Bath's wife which is when she turned to the bible to try and make a good argument on her case she cited the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman when Jesus met her by the well; Bath's wife said "Except i ask, why is the fifth man Was not a husband to the Samaritan? How many might she have in marriage yet I have never heard tell in all my age about this any number definite. (The wife of Bath's 21-24) Bath's wife argument was that if the bible did not mention an exact number of how many times she could be married then it meant that it was not a sin for her to do so. The wife of Bath's does sound like she was really a sinful and lustful woman specially when she says "I'll tell the truth; those husband that i had, Some three of them were good, and two were bad...So help me God, I laugh to remember How pitiful a night I made them labor! (The wife of Bath's 201-208) she saw marriage and sex as a business transaction. In this tale I was able to see that sin was really looked down on, which is probably why she felt the need to explain herself, when people heard this tale they

I would counter their argument by stating that although they are not husband and wife doesn’t excuse the fact that he has some type of relationship with her and therefore the biblical principles, although not exact still

Jesus tested her by telling her to “Go call your husband and come back” (4:16), but her response was that “I do not have a husband” (4:17). Then, Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” She was being truthful and honest about it. She humbly accepted the Truth similar to “the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Lk 18:13). Finally, the woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem”

Established with Adam and Eve, still surviving, marriage is the oldest institution known. Often the climax of most romantic movies and stories, whether it may be ‘Pride and Prejudice’ or ‘Dil Wale Dulhaniya Ley Jaein Gey’, marriage has a universal appeal. It continues to be the most intimate social network, providing the strongest and most frequent opportunity for social and emotional support. Though, over the years, marriage appears to be tarnished with high divorce rates, discontentment and infidelity, it is still a principal source of happiness in the lives of respective partners. Although marriage is perceived as a deeply flawed institution serving more the needs of the society than those of the individuals, nevertheless, marriage is

As men stated authority over women in the Middle Ages, the Wife of Bath's associates men with authoritative power, and women with experience. She denounces all authority, a radical statement especially in a time where the Church and men (the majority of her audience) were dominant in society, and states that experience should overpower authority. The Wife of Bath continues to denounce the belief that men should be authoritative over women by countering Church beliefs with her own experience. She says that someone once scolded her of her lifestyle with the proof that Christ only graced one wedding ceremony, a sign that the Bible clearly states that men and women should only marry once. She refutes this Biblical teaching with her own life experience stating that "wedding's no sin, so far as I can learn" (Chaucer 260). She specifically uses the word learn to emphasize the fact that she acquired this knowledge through her own experience. Chaucer depicts the Wife of Bath as an

Here we face a paradox, physically that is impossible, but spiritually they complete each other's life so that in marriage, they are one. We also see throughout these lines that she gives her marriage as an example "If ever two were one", "if ever man were loved by wife", "if ever wife was happy in a man". Compare with me ye women if you can. In this verse the poet seems boastful of her relationship; she calls out to women in a bragging manner.

When he was forced to marry her she wanted the benefits of a wife. She was very envious of other people’s possession. So she used each and every last one of them to get what she wanted.

Also, while she claims Biblical support for her views on marriage, the support that she cites is conveniently edited to suit her purposes (for example, Solomon did have 700 wives and 300 concubines -- but his appetites led to his turning away from God; and the marital relationship specified in the Bible is a reciprocal one rather than the one-sided one she speaks of, tilted in favour of the wife -- she conveniently ignores that while the "Apostel [...] / [...] bad oure housbondes for to love us weel", he also exhorts women to love their husbands), and she elsewhere ignores the Bible when it proves difficult to "glose" in her favour (as in her dismissal of its injunction to dress "in habit maad with chastitee and shame"). Moreover, her behaviour is a demonstration of all the anti-feminist accusations

As the Wife explains, she used her sexual power to dominate her husbands. In an essay put out by Portland state University, it says that "In the Middle Ages, many members of the Church began to see sex and lust as a sin created by The Fall." This is further shown in Scripture itself in many places, one of them being 2 Corinthians 12:21:

Her views intensify both when she states that God gave the poor the gift of sex to use as means for gaining riches and when she expresses that genitals are “wise and perfect”; they are not simply made for reproduction “they were not made for nothing, safe to say” (Chaucer). Her topic of discussion swiftly shifts off of the topic of her views on sex to the topic of a man’s roll in marriage. She begins by comparing the wife to a debtor and the husband her slave, then stating that she will have unlimited power over his body during their marriage.

The Wife of Bath uses bible verses in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue.” Further, she employs the verses as an outline of her life to find reason in God to justify her actions. Nevertheless, the purpose of the verses differs within each stanza of the poem. The Wife of Bath is a sexually promiscuous, lustful, and manipulative woman. She marries men one after the other as they get older and die. In order to combat and overthrow the speculation and criticism being thrust upon her by societal norms because of her marriages, the wife turns to specific bible passages to find reason in life and support for her actions (Article Myriad.com). When the wife is having sex quite frequently and with different men she is said to be fruitful and multiplying. According to the wife, this is what she is told to do in the bible passage, which she has misinterpreted. Ironically, The Wife of Bath is using a predominantly male dominated book to back up and support her reasons for women being equal to men (Article Myriad.com). Not only has she referred to the benefits of adultery through the bible, she has also attempted to undermine the power of men in the very same way she has attempted to prove that the genders are equal. From this, it can be interpreted that although the wife claims to be providing evidence for women being equal to men, she is actually saying that women are better than men. She misinterprets the readings of the bible and male written passages on purpose in order to suit her needs.