Similarities And Differences Between The Knights Tale And The Wife Of Bath's Tale

Beginning with the prologue, the Wife of Bath makes an argument for why she believes sexuality is the key weapon to use against men to achieve her goals. Doing such, she twists the typical gender roles of the time; that women are dependent upon their husbands and need a partner for protection and wealth. The Wife also shows in her stories how she was able to falsely accuse men and continuously hold the upper hand with them, which goes against traditional gender roles of the time of women being helpless without a husband.

She believes that women should have absolute power over their marriage. Sovereignty is one of her significant values. Throughout the tale it is apparent that the storyteller still has those same beliefs. During the knight’s quest to acquire the answer, he finds an old lady. This older woman holds the answer he had been searching for. She will tell him the solution if, he promises her one thing. He is to do as she says, if she is ever to need anything. After presenting the answer that the old lady gave him, his life was spared. As a result the old lady asks the knight to marry her. Disgust filled the knight however, he had no choice. In this case the older woman had the power over the knight. The knight had to abide by her request. His negative attitude towards the old lady does not go unnoticed. A preposition if then offered to the knight. The old lady can stay old and loyal or become beautiful and treacherous. Power is rooted in the woman and not the man. The knight has the choice but no sense of ability to change her. The Wife of Bath’s made it clear that she believed women should be in command. It is decided that the old lady will turn beautiful and remain

Beowulf and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” are both narratives in which gender acts as an important theme within their individual communities; both have underlying meanings when it comes to defining what should be the role men and women in a good community. Or in other words, both paint a vivid picture of the role of women during the medieval time period, by suggesting that one gender had more power over another. However, these two narratives take alternative paths when expressing their views; Beowulf conveys its message through what is missing, while “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” incorporates satire and uses explicit narrative when telling the experience of a woman that is highly different from other women in her time. Furthermore, another difference

In the stories of The Wife of Bath and Queen Guinevere from the tale of King Arthur, both women of nobility and are strong characters. The Wife of Bath is a woman who likes to be known in the upper class and enjoys and parties. Queen Guinevere “is more passionate and caring,” she takes her royal status for granted. In the Middle Ages, these two women did not fit the idea of how women were to act or think towards their roles as women in that time period.

In The Wife of Bath’s Tale and Prologue and The Franklin’s Tale, the central theme is the relationship between man and woman. There are different views of this relationship or marriage in these two tales: either the woman has the power in the marriage granted from her husband, or the husband and wife grant each other power in the marriage so neither dominates.

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 her tale Dame Alice claims once again that the most important thing to a woman is to have control and dominance in a relationship with a man. This is seen when the knight returns to the castle to answer the queen’s question, saying "a woman wants the self-same sovereignty over her husband as over her lover, and master him, he must not be above her" (174-176). As part of a previous arrangement the knight is saved, but must marry the old hag. The woman knows that her new husband is upset that she is old and ugly, so she decides to give him a choice. The hag questions the knight as to whether he would rather have her old and faithful or young and unfaithful. The knight tells the hag that the decision is hers to choose what she thinks will be best. Because the knight was wise enough to give the woman the choice to choose for herself the old hag was able to become young, beautiful and good. The Wife’s tale demonstrates that life will be better for a man when he gives his

Once returned with armor for Palamon, the fighting ensues amidst the feuding cousins. Before their dispute concludes in death, the wise knight, Theseus, along with his wife and Emily, the cause of the knights’ quarrel, happen upon them in the grove. Although both former prisoners, and one forever exiled from the land of Athens, Arcita and Palamon truthfully reveal their identity and the motivation behind their duel as “chivalry [requires] knights…to swear loyalty to their superiors” (Thierry). Arcita and Palamon, with all loyalty to the Duke, unveil their true identities, a brave act of chivalry that nearly results in the execution of the devoted knights. Theseus, moved with compassion at the plea of the two women, pardons both Arcita and Palamon, knowing that only those in love “can be called a fool” (Chaucer 46). Theseus’ amnesty emulates the “ideal chivalric knight,” one who “[is…] compassionate [and] just…to those in distress” (Thierry). In

The Wife of Bath 's Prologue and Tale is about female empowerment it shows strong protagonists. I believe Geoffrey Chaucer used The Wife of Bath’s Tale to advocate for feminism. Chaucer used a strong female character to expose female stereotypes. It was an oppressive time for women in male-dominated society. During the Middle Ages, Chaucer wrote from a woman’s point of view something that was not normal at that time. He set his feminist ideals through the characters of the Wife of Bath and the old woman. He used subtle methods like humor to show his ideals. During Chaucer’s time nobody was used to the idea of women being equal to men, this idea did not exist. Chaucer expressed his ideas in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale by being one of the first to understand and acknowledge a women’s struggle in society, through this tale he shows the difference between men and women and their positions of power. In the Wife of Bath’s Tale, feminism is showed by the knight recognizing and listening to his wife. Chaucer is a feminist for his time because he used humor to mask his unpopular ideas he used these characters to voice his opinions.

In the Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the Knight and the Wife of Bath are similar and also different. The Knight represents the nobility and military estate while the Wife of Bath represents the middle status. Both the Knight and the Wife of Bath are fearless. The Knight was a fearless worthy man who fought in the crusades while the Wife of Bath was fearless about her opinions on love, she was outspoken.

The story the Wife of Bath tells is of a knight who rapes a young lady and subsequently is condemned to death by King Arthur. Chaucer then satirizes the male patriarchy by having the queen take ability to pass judgement on the knight, not King Arthur. This exhibits the power of women over men. This act foreshadows the course of events, manifesting the knight as merely a puppet on a string. The queen gives the knight the choice between a year long quest or to be put to death. The quest the knight must complete is to find what women most desire by the end of the year or he will put to death, “I’ll grant you life if you can tell to me / What thing it is that women most desire. / Be wise, and keep you neck from iron dire!” (Chaucer 910-912). With one of the

      In "The Wife of Bath's Tale" A knight is forced to marry a wretched old

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

the Wife of Bath says that "thus the apostle Paul has told it me, and bade

Lastly, The Wife of Bath’s Tale is wronged because it goes against the idea of patriarchy. Patriarchy goes all the way back to Aristotle who said that there was a pyramid of life; gods on top, the men, and last women and whatever was left. Women, back then, were to obey their husbands, and if they didn’t their husbands were allowed to beat some sense into them to put them back in line. With that information comes the Wife of Bath who stands up in front of the group and explains how she would trick her husbands and proved that she was just as smart, maybe even smarter. Moving onto her tale which also has to do with a woman tricking a man. In the tale a knight is set on a journey to find out what women want. While on his journey he comes in contact with an old lady who makes a deal with him; if he does what