In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath upholds the misogynistic ideas of her time. In “The Wife of Bath's Tale”, the reader learns that the Wife of Bath’s name is Alice. In her tale, the reader also learns that she has had five husbands. The Wife of Bath upholds the misogynistic idea of her time because she is very forthcoming about her sexuality and her relationships with her husbands. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath upholds this idea because she does not hide any details about her sexual actions and also adds her input about virginity so women were not supposed to be so open about these facts during the middle ages. The Wife of Bath talks about the virginity of women and her thoughts on …show more content…
She tells the Pilgrims how her husbands feel about her and how she feels about them: “They loved me so well, by God above / I took for granted all their love!” (243). She takes advantage of her husbands because they were old and wealthy, so she manipulates the men into marriage and waits for them to die so that she receives their moeny. She explains how she does not love them for them, but just for their money. She states how she does not care about anything as long as she receives what she wants: “He is too great niggard who would refuse / a man to light a candle at his lantern / he shall not miss the light, by God / If you have enough, you should not complain” (249). She uses her sexual power to obtain what she wishes. She does not have respect for any of her husbands because she does not truly love them, but uses them to wait until they die so she can have the money when they die. She withholds from them to ensure that she receives what she wants: “There would I scorn and give them no pleasure / I would no longer in the bed abide / If that I felt his arm over my side / Till he had paid his ransom unto me /” (253). She will not give her husbands anything sexual if she does not receive something that she wants from him. She ensures that if
“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.
The Canterbury Tales depict many characters that, although fictionally created by Geoffrey Chaucer, may give the reader the opportunity to analyze and interpret their tales as a way of determining their personalities. The Wife of Bath and her prologue accurately supports this statement, as her intentions become expounded due to her questionable actions. The Wife of Bath exhibits in her prologue that she lacks respect and gratitude towards the men she beguiles into marriage and does so by falsely claiming direction from God. She shows not only deceit towards her many husbands, but also does not possess the ability to care about others before herself.
Wealth and property feature heavily in the wife’s portrayal of marriage and along with the issue of her independence is responsible for many of her marital conflicts. The first three husbands "riche and olde" were married each for "hir land and hir tresoor" then discarded as the Wife looks for other prospects. When one of these husbands tries to restrict the Wife’s spending she refuses to let him be both "maister of my body and of my good" so refuses sexual favours in return for her freedom as she will not become a mere possession. She generalizes that women "love no man that taketh or keepth charge" suggesting an element of independence and individualism in 14th century marriage. The wife resents being controlled; she
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
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.
"The Wife of Bath", in the collection of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, illustrates the stereotypical image of a women in medieval times ("The Portrayal of Gender in The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.") The tale characterizes women as lustful and greedy burdens on men. However, to readers today, "The Wife of Bath" represents a strong minded feminist woman who is confident and open about her sexuality. Narrated by a character called Alisoun, "The Wife of Bath" reveals an insight to a woman’s point of view in medieval times. Alisoun begins her long prologue by declaring that she follows the rule of experience; announcing that she’s a self–proclaimed women. Throughout the her tale Alisoun questions and challenges the idea of power and authority in medieval society. Through Alisoun, Chaucer gives women a voice to express their call for equality and their need for power. By using description and characterization, Chaucer gives readers an insight to a society in which women are starting to express their desire to have power ultimately arguing that in order for men to be happy women need to have sovereignty in medieval times.
The concept that sex can be used as a means to an end is nothing new; however, Alison presents the idea that women can use their bodies for both pleasure and power. She states, “‘A man must yield his wife her debts’ / What means of paying her can he invent / Unless he use his silly instrument?” (280). Indeed, his instrument can pay his wife in the form of pleasure, while also allowing her clout in the relationship. The Wife goes on to establish the consensual aspect of sex in a marriage, saying, “In wifehood I will use my instrument / As freely as my Maker me it sent. / If I turn difficult, God give me sorrow! My husband, he shall have it eve and morrow” (280). Not only does she give her husband sex, she wants to fulfill his sexual desires. Later in her narrative, she admits to getting paid for sex with a few of her husbands. She says, “‘It’s all for sale and let him win who can.’ / No empty-handed man can lure a bird. / His pleasures were my profit; I concurred” (287). She expertly devises a plan to get what she wants while getting paid for it as well. This is the underlying theme of
The Wife of Bath’s Tale features a character that seemed to resemble a feminist. But in Chaucer’s time, feminism was thought to be abnormal and the pilgrims
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, he introduces a character known as the Wife of Bath. It is her turn to tell the stories, and her tale begins discussing her past marriages in the prologue. Married five times, the Wife of Bath tells us about her own marital issues, and the way she was able to manipulate the gender roles to her own advantage. As interesting of a character as she is, I find Chaucer created the Wife of Bath to deliberately introduce the issues gender roles play in our society. I believe that the role the of the Wife of Bath in the tale was purposely written by Chaucer to twist the traditional gender roles of the time, satirizing how gender plays in society.
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.
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 Geoffrey Chaucer’s The wife of bath’s Prologue and Tale, it is one of the many Canterbury tales that can bring us awareness of the women’s role in the middle ages. Even though Alisoun, who is the wife of bath is a female traveling with a group of men; she still manages to hold her own ground. She tells thr men in order to have a great
The Wife of Bath is perhaps the most fully realized character in the Canterbury Tales. Headstrong, boisterous and opinionated, she wages a perpetual struggle against the denigration of women and the taboos against female sexuality. She issues a number of rebuttals against strict religious claims for chastity and monogamy, using Biblical examples including Solomon to show that the Bible does not overtly condemn all expressions of sexuality, even outside of marriage. Those who use religious texts to argue for the submission of women are the most fervent targets of scorn for the Wife of Bath. She claims that the reason for the bias against women in these texts is due to the lack of experience and contact with women of those who write the text. It is this antipathy to intellectual arguments against femininity that causes her to tear the pages from Jankin's book.
In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Chaucer begins with a description of twenty-nine travelers on a pilgrimage to visit the grave of the Saint of Canterbury. Chaucer purposefully makes The Wife of Bath stand out more compared to the other characters. In the General Prologue, the Wife of Bath is described in an explicit manner; her clothes, physical features and references to her past are purposely designed to be in sharp contrast to the Christian authorities regarding what was considered proper womanly behavior, while also alluding to her reasoning against the anti-feministic mind set.
Often, the most memorable female characters are those who break out of the stereotypical “good wife” mold. When an author uses this technique effectively, the woman often carries the story. In Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, he portrays the Wife of Bath, Alison, as a woman who bucks the tradition of her times with her brashness and desire for control. Chaucer effectively presents a woman's point of view and evokes some sympathy for her.