The Wife Of Bath 's Prologue And Tale

The ideals of marriage have changed drastically throughout history, but then it all comes around as history repeats itself. In medieval times there were several texts about the contradictory ideas of reality and ideal life of women and marriage. Chaucer explicitly refutes the misogynistic ideals when the Wife of Bath argues her point using scripture, behaviors of women from his other tales in similarity to the Wife of Bath and detailed events throughout the prologue of the Wife’s roles in her marriages.

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.

The Wife of Bath’s Tale in the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a very pivotal point in the text. It argues in favor of feminine dominance in marriage in a time where women were always under the skeptical view. The leading example of the medieval skeptical view of women is St. Jerome’s response against Jovinian. It shows how women were more restricted than men and thought to be in the fault for the wrong things that happen to them. Chaucer opposes that stereotype by introducing the Wife of Bath, a very radical character just like the other characters in the Canterbury Tales. The Wife is a very outspoken feminist and justifies her decision to remarry four times. She uses St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and other arguments to undermine the traditional antifeminism arguments, such as St. Jerome’s, against her remarriages.

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.

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.

By analyzing and comparing the text, her characteristics are not in favor of only one side. The Wife of Bath is an independent and dominant woman who challenges patriarchal norms. However her actions speak otherwise; perpetuating the negative stereotypes of women that were widely portrayed by men in the Middle Ages. Although both arguments have valid points, the Wife of Bath is indeed a feminist. She is shameless about her sexual exploits by speaking her mind and exceeding the expectation of rearing children. Although she may not be considered an activist, her actions are a rebellion against a male dominated society. The Wife of Bath is ahead of the Medieval time, perhaps leading the way to a revolution. Without early feminist approaches, no one would be inspired to advocate the need for equality and thus, changing our lives

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 so much that the Wife of Bath fights back against the oppression against women, she in turn ends up treating her husbands in the same oppressive manner. It is interesting to note that in her rants against men being the controlling force in marriages, she herself was a bully to her husbands. This makes it difficult to interpret Chaucer's intentions in creating a strong women character advocating for her due rights. By vocalizing her thoughts and what were most likely many women's thoughts of his day, he gives an identity and power to those without a

In view of the fact that the Wife of Bath herself does seem to behave in the manner women are accused of behaving by the anti-feminist writers, it is not impossible that the Wife of Bath's Prologue could be considered a vehicle for the anti-feminist message under the guise of a seeming "feminist" exterior, since her confession is frequently self-incriminating (e.g. her treatment of her husbands, her tendency to "swere and lyen") and demonstrates the truth of the claims made by the anti-feminists even while she is disparaging them and making them look bad -- as in her claim that anti-feminist writers (specifically the "clerks", i.e. learned scholars) are revenging themselves on women because of their own sexual impotence that prevents

In The Canterbury tales, Chaucer uses The Wife of Bath as a representation of what it was like for Women in the Middle Ages to be striped of equality and bow to the otherwise male dominated society. For the representation of women Chaucer uses the Tales of “The Scholar”, “The Second Nun “The Reeve’s”, and “The Franklin” and many others in a very dry, pretentious manner to steer readers into the view of how a women of the Middle Ages should be as a so called “virtuous” wife or woman. The concept of marriage plays a major part in manifesting the idea of the issues of inferiority of women. The perception rendered as women having to be obedient and inferior figure to their husbands or male counter parts. Chaucer

Many literary critics throughout the years have labeled the Wife of Bath, the "gap-toothed (23)" character of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, a feminist. She is a strong-willed and dominant woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. However, this is not the definition of a feminist. A feminist is someone who believes that women and men are equal, while also is able to recognize and appreciate the unique characteristics of both sexes. A feminist celebrates what it means to be a woman, and a feminist is definitely not what Chaucer meant his character to be interpreted as. If anything, the Wife of Bath could safely be called a sexist. She constantly emphasizes the negative

Among all the characters in The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath is arguably the most famous and iconic. She is objectively among the most well-developed characters in the story, with much more emphasis being placed on her own personal history rather than the tale she tells. This is even noticed by the characters, who note that “this is a long preamble of a tale” (Chaucer 831), implying that the Wife of Bath was meant to be the standout character of the story from the start. With the negative stereotypes of women running rampant throughout her character only to be subverted in the end, the Wife of Bath manages to stand out among the masses of readers and critics with the duality and complexity of her character, as well as being an early example of feminist representation by criticizing misogynistic stereotypes and the double standards against women in society.

The Wife of Bath's “Prologue” and “Tale” from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales has critics divided between being a feminist tale or making fun of feminist women and condoning writing stories about them. Is she advocating women's rights or is she meant to be a joke? It is hard to say for sure, one way of the other. Though there are feminist movements, the Wife of Bath is set up, it seems, as a comedic character, making jokes and being bawdy. But as her prologue goes on and she discusses her own experience with domestic abuse and as she begins her tale with rape, it becomes clear that she is more than meets the eye. In this paper, I am going to argue that the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale can be considered feminist because it discusses women's sexuality, domestic abuse, and gender double standards.

The role of women in society, and the power in which women have, has always been a controversial and changing subject. The Wife of Bath’s Tale speaks greatly about female dominance during this point and time. Chaucer uses a strong Christian viewpoint while telling the story of the Wife. He uses an explanation considering how the apostle Paul speaks about how God put man in the position to serve as a guide for women, not to command them. “Men may counsel a woman to be single, but/ counseling is not commanding; he left it to our own judgment” (Chaucer 68). This is saying that it is our judgment as to what is right or wrong. Through this example and many others, Chaucer speaks about the Wife’s strong personality and opinions on the role of women in society.

A myriad of interesting characters traveled to Thomas a Beckett’s shrine, but perhaps the most interesting and progressive in all of The Canterbury Tales is the Wife of Bath. While Chaucer did not illustrate her character in a negative light, the ideal women were expected to meet during the Middle Ages were detailed in codes of chivalry and fulfilling the role of perfect housewife or mother. Women of the Middle Ages were belittled into pawns in men's game of power. The Wife of Bath does not stand for the patriarchal subjugation of women during this period, and likes doing as she pleases; her views put her ahead of her time in regards to feminist movements throughout the ages. The lady is not a rosy-cheeked maiden who revels in thoughts of chivalrous and gentlemanly behavior. Rather, the Wife's ideals are equality with her husband and not being "continent for years and years" (WP 12). By sharing her views and tales of wantonness with her peers on the pilgrimage, she reveals to them as well as the reader her promiscuous, frank, and almost fearless nature.