The Portrayal Of Women In The Canterbury Tales

Much like most Catholic primary and secondary schools within the Greater American Catholic School System, particularly those who ever had Catholic School Nobility members within its ranks, the Catholic school noblemen and noblewomen were encouraged to not wear their resplendent

Have you ever wondered what people in the Elizabethan Era wore? Fashion was just as important in those days as it is to some people today. What people were wearing mattered to others, and even the government. During the Elizabethan Era clothing, accessories, and cosmetics were all a part of daily life.

Modern day fashion is a more carefree approach. There aren’t usually any rules when it comes what to wear, and women are granted the freedom to choose what they would prefer to wear. Women generally enjoy this aspect of society, since many things are still controlled. Unlike the Elizabethan women, modern women prefer to wear jeans on an average day. T-shirts with fun, different sayings on them are often times paired with jeans. Some women even prefer to wear men’s clothing, such as jeans and loafers. Most women often wear shirts that show a little more cleavage than what would be seen as appropriate in Elizabethan times, as seen in Figure two. (Modern day 1) Commonly, women are classified by what sort of brands they wear, or what type of style they have, like the Elizabethans.

Ironically, as a member of the aristocratic class, she “wore nothing but the oldest clothes” (pg. 64). According to Dashkova’s

For many centuries clothing was used namely as a form of symbolising one’s ascribed class and social honour. A good example of this was evident in Feudal European times when sumptuary laws were created in order to regulate and specify

Vikash Kumar Mandaiya Prof. Juhi Text and Textiles 28thApril 2015 Importance of headwear in Charlotte Bronte’s “Villette” During 19th century, headwear (including caps, bonnets and hats) were aspects of everyday fashion. There were books and articles, published to justify the significance of headwear, for instance, “Hats Off” a satirical article which addresses the increasing influence of hats at that time. Many novelist of that period also appear to be concerned with headwear. So, in this paper I am investigating the significance of headwear in 19th century society through the novel by a female author (Villette by Charlotte Bronte).

Women from the medieval times had clear roles. The women had strict rules to follow by. When it came to marriage, the wives had to submit to their husbands and follow their lead. Women were supposed to be cleaning, stay at home with the kids, cook, make clothes, etc. The women who steered away from these “typical” roles, made very interesting characters. The majority of gender expectations came from the church and biblical history. Since Eve was the cause for the fall of man, there were a lot of anti-feminist feelings. Women were held accountable for the majority of man’s suffering, and were consequently inferior and to be dominated by men. Purity, holiness, and chastity, were all presumptions of women from outstanding role models like the Virgin Mary.

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.

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet, born in 1342 into well-to-do merchant family. He got some of his education in Greek and Latin. He was a courtier, soldier, diplomat, administrator, knight of the Shire and a poet. He is the most musical, stylistically versatile poet but his language is different from the language we use today. The most famous work of the Chaucer is ‘The Canterbury Tales’. It is a descriptive poem rather a narrative. This poem is about the description of 30 people: rich and poor, secular and religious, good and bad. Each tells 2 stories on their way to Canterbury, to pass their time. All pilgrims are from different part of society and class. Chaucer is portraying a gallery of characters. His style is mixed with different

Robert Baran Haggerty Senior English, period 7 20 April 2015 I Hate Women. “Pride Goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall,” Proverb 16:18 of the New International Bible. Pride led Chanticleer into being tricked and captured by the fox. Pride let Chanticleer escape from the fox. Pride allowed feministic discrimination against Perlelote by Chanticleer.

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.

In the 21st century, many women have been successful because of feminism. Women empowerment in our current time is a lot strong than in the Medieval period, but it is still weak. In “The Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer it represents strong feminist characters in, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”. The characters such as a Wife of Bath, an old hag, and also a Queen from “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale,” play a feminist character in the male-dominated society during that time. Through these three characters, we see strong examples of feminism.

Expected to live within their home and care for children, Medieval women were often placed towards the bottom of the class hierarchy. Like peasants, they were required to do tedious jobs, often confined to their house and land. Females were supposed to remain loyal and subservient to their husbands. Men, on the other hand, travelled throughout the town, acting as carpenters, millers, clergy, and knights—free to pursue any women of their interest (Kowalski). Members of Medieval society were expected to fit these predetermined roles; however, Chaucer reflects opposing opinions. Through The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer comments on natural love, social hierarchy, and gender roles to portray his ideal image of society in contrast to its current attitude. The Miller’s Tale and Prologue specifically focus on the traits and sexual intentions of each character to display Chaucer’s disapproval with the current views on gender roles and identity in Medieval times.

All through Canterbury Tales, women are dealt with as objects in everyday life. In the “Miller’s Tale,” an old man marries a younger, attractive women for her looks. In the “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” a virgin woman has her virginity and innocence taken from her by what is suppose to be a noble and honorable knight and when his punishment is later to marry an older, less attractive women, all respect for his newly wife vanishes. A woman’s level of recognition in Canterbury Tales are through her class in society, whether she is young and beautiful, or old and disgusting, and her degree of experience in life. Women are not desired for their intelligence, wisdom and capabilities which might of kept a relationship deceitful-free. The “Wife of

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a collection of very well written stories with very complex characters. The most interesting characters are the female characters on their way to Canterbury with the rest of pilgrims as well as the women in the stories that the other pilgrims tell. Among these women, the most notable are Emily from the Knight’s Tale and The Wife of Bath. Both of these women, however different, appear to be strong, capable and self-ruling. In both cases, these women’s stories show Chaucer’s view on relationships with the opposite sex- that they will always be imbalanced, and that women are merely trophies to be won and displayed for all to see and, lastly, that subservience is equal to love.