Comparing 'Wife Of Bath And' The Pardoner's Tale

Women gain sovereignty over the male gender in The Wife of Bath’s Tale. In the tale the knight rapes a maiden that he meets as he is coming from a river. The Queen and her court of ladies rule that his penalty for such dishonourable behaviour is to find out, in one year and a day, what women most desire or he will be decapitated.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is an important part of his most famed work, The Canterbury Tales. One of the most respected highly analyzed of all of the tales, this particular one is important both for its character development and its prevailing themes. It seamlessly integrates ideas on society at that time with strong literary development. This work stands the test of time both because of its literary qualities and because of what it can teach us about the role of women in late Medieval society.

In the time period of the 14th century, many woman faced inequality. Women were not viewed to uphold the same quota as men. Most females were viewed as passive to males and were not able to make many demands in their relationships or make any contributions to their own survival or life. In the “Wife of Bath Tale”, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer gives an insight into the struggles of a woman. Chaucer gives a voice for women who cannot speak for themselves. He creates a tale for the Wife of Bath that includes and questions the societal views of women. Written in the words of a woman, Chaucer undermines what it means to be a female in the fourteenth century who desires independence and

Chaucer’s Wife of Bath gives the reader a glimpse into the world of medieval women and at the same time is a commentary on Chaucer’s view of deficiencies of his world. In the Knight’s Tale, the reader sees a resistance to the rights of women, typical of the medieval period and in the Wife’s Tale there is a peek at the beginning of the sovereignty of women of their own

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is considered a work of satire towards medieval society by many literary critics. Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath as a prime way to quip a key fourteenth century practice wherein medieval society is patriarchal from noblemen to peasants. Women are one of the most restrained groups. The Wife of Bath narrates a story mocking male superiority and spouts a pro-women narrative. In this tale, the Wife of Bath shows women not submitting to a man’s world. For this period in time, she is a progressive who implies men are not in control of society which does not fit the mold of women at the time. She infers women are running everything from behind the curtain with men merely being used as puppets.

In the Canterbury Tales, the character known as the Wife of Bath is described by Chaucer as a very free-living and courageous women. In the time of the Middle Ages, compared to men, women had little to no rights in many different settings such as in daily abor and especially in education. In fact, this unfairness lasted until 1920, where the fight for Women’s Suffrage was present. Although, unlike the women of the early twentieth century, the Wife of Bath simply didn't fight for rights, she just went along with what she had. We can tell that Chaucer uses many details to describe the Wife of Bath through her fortune, her interest in sexual activity, and her many journeys to distant lands.

In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, both the Wife of Bath's story and the Pardoner's story are stories that present us with a decent exceptional message. The good in The Wife of Bath's story is that genuine excellence can not be judged from simply taking a gander at the external appearance, and in the Pardoner's story it is that abundance of anything, is terrible.

While “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” talk about a knight’s integrity, a lot points can be differentiated from the theme of this tale to the theme of “Pardoner’s tale”

Geoffrey Chaucer introduces numerous characters in the prologue of The Canterbury Tales; each character possessing a distinct personality and lifestyle. Chaucer gives insight into the lives of the characters on their pilgrimage to Canterbury. The Pardoner unfurls his thoughts and feelings giving us extended insight into his own character, by providing us with a tale of his own. In doing so, he contrasts other pious figures who are introduced in the prologue, with character traits consisting of an effeminate lifestyle, avariciousness, as well as hypocrisy.

Today, women in the United States have a majority of the same liberties as men; however, this is not the way it has always been. Women were powerless in the Middle Ages, doing little more than caring for homes, tending to children, and occasional manual labor in the fields to assist their husbands. Some of the richer women had servants to help them, although many did not (Alixe Bovey). While some may argue that women were powerless in the Middle Ages, I argue that the Wife of Bath breaks this stereotype because she manipulates the Knight into doing what she wants and holds authority over him, which suggests that Chaucer did not believe in the aforementioned female stereotypes.

The Wife of Bath vs. The Pardoner A tale of rape or a tale of theft; which can provide the better moral? Written by Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales tells of a group of very different pilgrims on their trip to Canterbury, along the way they must tell their stories containing the most morale. Whoever tells the most noble story wins the prize of a free dinner at a tavern. After an extensive evaluation of the two tales, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” and “The Pardoner’s Tale” the story containing better morals is definitely “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”.

1B: The Wife of Bath’s story expressed the role of a woman in a male dominated world that possessed characteristics of the opposite gender. It is a very interesting self-described story of her expertise of marriage, boasting of her manipulative submission of men; she was able to convey dominance but also often contradicted herself through personal descriptions and her tale, which consequently reverts to the male oriented nature of the era. Alison, the wife, constructs her reputation as the expert of marriage by detailing her relationships with her husband. She proudly reflects of her control over these men, the power she holds however, is built through deceit. The Wife of Bath story, in the end, reverts to the patriarchal society in which a female’s primary role is to see to the needs of men.

Entertainment and education through the oppression of women finds a common place in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath Prologue and John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi. In both stories the audience is introduced to the idea of female independence and strength through a confident and skilled female character who envelops the knowledge required to subvert the standards of patriarchal and misogynistic society. While both women in the The Wife of Bath Prologue and The Duchess of Malfi are varied characters who (think they) exude authority and seem to be able to live outside the limitations of a patriarchal society, at a closer look it is obvious this is not the case. Chaucer and Webster have both developed a story that parallel the stereotypes of the misogynist political and social structure of the time. Furthermore, they have blended comedy and entertainment to create stories that are didactic in nature they reaffirm the stereotype of unruly widows and ultimately show that no good will come to women who attempt to live outside the structural confines of the patriarchal and misogynist structures of society.

Ambiguity acts as a catalyst for the dialogue between the author and audience within a story that evokes a certain feeling that arouses an immense interest in something that is not definitive. This purposely sparks the audience to dive into the depths of the text to crystallize the uncertainties, and as a result, contemplate the meaning of the uncertainty as well. Throughout The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer’s literary design, such character development and narrative, constantly appears to shift depending on the particular interpretation of the reading. This incites uncertainty for the reader as they attempt to firmly grasp the author’s true intention. Chaucer raises the question whether he was applauding or criticizing the Wife of Bath, which remains one of the permeating uncertainties from his tale for the reader to contemplate. By examining multiple literary techniques used in the final passage before her tale, we can see that the ending prologue passage acts as a mirror to the final passage of the Wife of Bath’s Tale to illustrate the connections between the Wife of Bath and the old woman from her tale. Chaucer purposely leaves the audience contemplating the meaning of the colloquial fairy tale with regards to the likelihood of the reality of the Wife of Bath character actually existing to act as a warning to the males of the time period. Through the lens of multiple literary techniques used to mirror the ending prologue and tale, it can be seen that Chaucer purposely leaves

“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” uniquely suggests a progressive view of women’s concerns during that time period. The Wife of Bath, or Alyson, is purposely formulated by Chaucer as a rebel. Alyson is deliberately portrayed in an explicit way to rouse a shocking response from the reader. Her physical appearance and her stories of her past are discussed by Chaucer to provoke the reader to ponder how well she fits the mold of how women were supposed to act in this time period. Chaucer takes every medieval, anti-feminist stereotype imaginable to create defiant Alyson: a tenacious and