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Dating And Relationships In The Canterbury Tales And The Wife Of Bath

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Between the medieval times and modern day society, one of the biggest changes has been the role of women, specifically in dating and relationships. Because society has changed so dramatically, if the Wife of Bath was given the opportunity to reflect on modern day dating, at first she would feel very torn. Taking into account her personality and actions described in “The Canterbury Tales” and public opinions on modern day dating, the Wife of Bath would find a stronger bond between herself and modern day feminists rather than people in modern day society who believe in tradition. Despite the Wife of Bath wanting men to woo her, she would find that her longings for control, her specific love interests in men, and her talent for seduction through flirtation and provocative clothing correlate with a woman being the more direct figure in a relationship. While the Wife of Bath would have very contradictory views on modern day dating, specifically the culture of first dates, she would ultimately prefer modern day dating customs with both genders having power as opposed to medieval time tradition with only men having power.
The Wife of Bath is an independent woman who has strong opinions on what women’s roles should be in society. She has had her fair share of husbands and relationships with men and her main goal in each relationship is to be in control. She notes that “[women] cannot love a husband who takes charge of where [they] go. [Women] like to be at large” (267) and

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