The Description Of Cookham Analysis

    The Wife of Bath's extraordinary prologue gives the reader a dose of what is sometimes missing in early male-written literature: glimpses of female subjectivity. Women in medieval literature are often silent and passive, to the extent that cuckolding is often seen as something one man (the adulterer) does to another (the husband). Eve Sedgwick argues in Between Men that in many literary representations, women are playing pieces or playing fields in struggles between male players. By default it seems, male writers cannot help but create shallow constructions of women; heroism occurs in male spheres of activity, while the wives and daughters make the background, and

To understand the value of relationships in Shakespeare’s works, it is imperative to first understand the dynamic of male-to-male friendships and their influence on martial ties. During the Elizabethan era, male-to-male relations were far different than they are in our current day and time. During that period, relationships were centered heavily on the societal place an individual held. This ensured that one could only be a legitimate friend with someone if they were of the same sex and the same social class. Thus, guaranteeing equality of the relationship. Furthermore, some authors of the Elizabethan era held more qualifiers for such bonds. For example, Elyot adds the qualifier that males cannot establish their relationships on profit or pleasure if the bond is to be of value and legitimacy (344). When viewed through this strict lens, there exists a narrow division to who can be friends, especially when it comes to those of higher social and monetary standing. Due to these qualifiers and dynamics, husband and wife could not exist as friends because they were not equals due to their position in the household and their opposite genders. In the analogy of the sun and the moon, the wife must serve as the moon and reflect her spouse’s light: submissive to his needs and obedient to his authority. If a husband and wife did procure a friendship, it would be unnatural according to Montaigne. He inflexibly believed women to possess too unpredictable and fiery of a demeanor for a

Frost further points out that the stretch of woods being viewed is very rural. This is made possible by the reference to the location between the woods and frozen lake. In closing the final sentence of the second stanza Frost reiterates the fact that this occurs on “the darkest evening of the year” stating the darkness of the mood.

“Lanval” by Marie de France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer are both medieval romances that put a knight on trial by a queen’s court for his treatment of a lady. Throughout the course of this paper, readers will get the opportunity to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and that during the twelfth-century women were superior to men, specifically in their relationships and marriages; however, today men dominant individuals, especially in working world.

The two publications that best contextualize gender are the Lowell Offering and the Godey’s Lady Book periodicals as the articles found in both magazines depict traditional gender roles for males and females. For the Lowell Offering, this is best seen in the article entitled, “Woman’s Proper Sphere”, which focuses on the thoughts associated with oppression like, “Is it ambitious wish to shine as man’s equal, in the same scenes in which he mingles” or “Does she wish for a more extensive influence, than that which emanates from a woman’s home?” Yet these progressive questions are met with answers like “How necessary, then, that she should understand these pursuits (of men), that she may truly sympathize with and encourage those, with whom she may be associated. In this way…her influence must and

While connections to relatives, in some cases, can be beneficial, they also have the opportunity to ruin one’s reputation. Heathcliff and Catherine’s brother-sister relationship gets them into trouble. When Heathcliff and Catherine spy on the Lintons, they are caught. Mrs. Linton is disgusted that “Miss Earnshaw [was] scouring the country with a gypsy”(WH 53). Catherine is expected to behave like a proper lady, implying that she should not associate with those inferior in status to her because she is part of the middle class. Even though Catherine and Heathcliff have a strong bond, he ruins her reputation in the eyes of the Mrs. Linton. Similarly, Mary wants Anne to keep “her company as long as she should want her to”(P 32). This prompts Elizabeth to not invite Anne to Bath because “‘nobody will want her in Bath’”(P 32). Anne’s reputation is ruined in the eyes of

The theme of matrimony in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue as well as in the Miller’s Tale does not fit in with traditional fourteenth-century culture. The characters in these two texts turn what is suppose to be a sacred unity into a promiscuous and taboo fantasy for pilgrims. The characters narrating these two tales promote the idea of what fourteenth-century canon law would define as adultery—to have had a third lover while married is the new societal trend for the characters in these tales. And so, marriage becomes a component to the larger fantasy of having a relationship with a character who is already in a marital bond, i.e., cuckolding is a fetish for Alisoun in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue as well as for Nicholas and Absolom in the Miller’s Tale. That is, Alisoun’s pursuit of her lover Jankin while being married, promotes the idea that having a third partner amplifies one’s sexual life, meanwhile, Nicholas’s and Absalom’s quarrel over (a different) Alison encourages the idea that engaging with a married someone enhances the gratification of adultery. In other words, marriage is not portrayed as a scared bond, but as a device to fulfill a pilgrim’s sexual fantasy; and, this new fantasy is what the pilgrims try to make a trend throughout England. Note that I will be using the name, “Alisoun,” to represent the wife from Bath, and I will be using the name, “Alison,” to portray the wife in the Miller’s Tale.

“The courtly lady…possesses a curiously hybrid gender. While maintaining stereotypically female sexuality, she also holds, in principle at least, the status of a feudal lord.” Burns’ statement insinuates a reversal of power dynamics between man and woman in the courtly love lyric, implying that the woman’s stereotypical beauty and sexuality in courtship, is a gateway to subverting and overpowering the lovesick male, making her a superior lord. The Amour Courtois lyric is deemed inconsistent with the representation of woman as an empowered “feudal lord” due to the sheer objectification of femininity and beauty. Poets such as Geoffrey Chaucer and William Dunbar commend a woman’s aesthetic appeal or satirise the lack of it, thus elevating medieval misogynistic expectations of physical beauty as a feminine necessity that objectifies women under the control of man’s advances. Throughout courtly love lyrics female beauty is a purely frivolous and superficial trait lacking predominant depth, to render woman as a “lord” would be poetically conflicting as the only power exemplified by female subjects in courtship is through the idolisation and sexual lust of the male devotee.

With a syllabus centered around woman poets, students would be exposed to more socioeconomically diverse group of poets. While the ‘major’ poets of the English 125 syllabus were all born into some degree of wealth, the women who acted as supplementary readings for the course were of more varied backgrounds. Isabella Whitney, for example, was born to a lower class English family. Her experiences in life are reflected in her poetry, and starkly contrast the poetry of the ‘major’ men. While the traditional male poets may not have had the same views, they were privy to a lot of similar experiences due to their class standing, and therefore tackled some of the same issues. To have a different viewpoint and style of writing in terms of not only gender, but of class, is crucial in the development of an English major. The current syllabus requires students to be complacent with the multitude under-developed female characters that are created through the eyes of men, and satisfied with the few women who are given deeper personalities, like the Wife of Bath in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Such confining works lead to conversation that automatically focuses on the negative when it comes to gender—that women are disregarded and often powerless when depicted from the male point of view, unless they are overtly sexualized. From a modern stance, this is seen as a sexist and unfair representation, but based on the current material offered in English 125, it seems as though it is an injustice that must be dealt with to understand the nuances of pivotal English poetry. However, a deeper focus on women poets would eliminate, or at least add dimension to, this type of conversation. There is no reason why students cannot “recognize the powerful interactions of form and content” between Isabella Whitney’s “To her Inconstant Lover” and Shakespeare’s

As one views British literature in the 16th century, there are few poems and stories where women were able to express themselves or showcase their strength and independence. Most literature about women appeared to be cameo appearances, small roles or objects of beauty. When looking at the epic tale of “The Caterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer allows a woman known as The Wife of Bath tells her story. Her story is about a woman who moves under her own rules and does not allow societal norms or expectations dictate her way of life. The Wife of Bath displays confidence and determination to life like the way she likes it. One is unsure of the actual influence The Wife of Bath has over the centuries but her confidence and free spirit are seen in today’s icon.

Women’s depiction in literature has typically been stereotypical, hardly ever displaying women in the unique lights that each of them are in. Stereotypical depictions of women have lessened greatly in the present day than it has in the past, but the struggle for correct representation of women has still been a challenge to overcome. Often in times, women are depicted in negative, stereotypical lights as a way to increase the values and highlight the qualities of the men in the pieces of literature. Even though the problem has gotten better through the years, women were shown in terrible stereotypes during the medieval times. In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, he reinforced and went against medieval stereotypes of women through the Wife of Bath,

Both, The Jew of Malta and “The Shipman’s Tale” by Christopher Marlowe and Geoffrey Chaucer, presents women as accessory characters who are at the disposal of the male protagonist. To a medieval reader, the restrictions women experienced when it came to participating in political, economical, and social affairs may have been normal, yet to a contemporary reader, their treatment and participation in literature is essential to understanding the limited role of women as social agents. Moreover, it is important to closely analyze unanswered questions about their obedience or defiance. On the other hand, the representation of women in both the works of Marlowe and Chaucer has been recognized by scholars as positive.

Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin read a few of their pieces at a public reading. Beth Fennelly writes poetry and short stories while her husband Tom read sections of longer fiction pieces. The two even combined to write a novel that they shared a bit of!

What standards develop the roles of men and women in a relationship? Should the man in the relationship always be in charge, be above the women in any natural setting? Robert Browning, one of the most famous writers of his time addresses the controversial topic of how men and women have different roles in relationships. In a larger aspect of Browning’s writings he adress the realationships between the sexs using dramatic monolog. In comparison and contrast of “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover” Browning addresses the similar and different ways men handle their roles within their relationship.

It was during the Elizabethan age that England felt the complete effect of the Renaissance. There occurred a revival of the old and classical literature of Greece and Rome and this was manifested in the poetry of the age. The Elizabethan age was characterized by an extreme spirit of adventure, aestheticism and materialism which became the characteristic features of Elizabethan poetry. Many poets displayed their skill in versification during this time and England came to be called The Nest Of Singing Birds.