The Women from The Odyssey, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain

As the request is made of his own mother she simply abides to her son’s wishes, “She bathed now, put on some fresh clothes,” (Homer l 17.60). All throughout the Odyssey Penelope shows her strength to ward off suitors and she manages to live without her husband for years. Remaining faithful the entire time to her husband Odysseus she discloses to her maid, “Eurynome, don’t try to coax me, care for me as you do, to bathe myself, refresh my face with oils. Whatever glow I had died long ago… the gods of Olympus snuffed it out that day my husband sailed away in the hollow ships,” (Homer ll 18.201-206) presenting to the reader that she lost all desire for anyone else when Odysseus’ left for war. This further substantiates the Greek view of how women should remain loyal at all times forsaking others. Lastly Penelope is rewarded for her lasting devotion to her husband with his return. In these characters and their specific roles in the Odyssey the Greeks’ insisted upon their women to accept such roles in their culture of certain hypocrisy when compared to that of their female counterpart. Without Athena’s support Odysseus would have never reached Ithaca and Telemachus would not have been pushed into becoming a man. Without Penelope’s loyalty, devotion, and support Odysseus’ efforts in his journey home would have held little merit of reward. What is most important to note is the male character of Odysseus plays the most prominent role in the epic but

After Odysseus “dies”, Penelope is forced to remarry because women were supposed to be wives and listen to the head of the household. She takes action to delay her forced remarriage by weaving a loom, but was caught in the act and did not succeed in canceling the wedding: “They rush the marriage on, and I spin out my wiles./ […] So by day I'd weave at my great and growing web-/ by night, by the light of torches set beside me,/ I would unravel all I'd done. Three whole years/ I deceived them blind, seduced them with this scheme./ Then, when the wheeling seasons brought the fourth year on/ and the months waned and the long days came round once more,/ the suitors caught me in the act and denounced me harshly./ So I finished it off. Against my will. They forced me./ And now I cannot escape a marriage, nor can I contrive/ a deft way out” (19.152-177). Penelope was mourning her husband and did not want to be married to anyone but him, and drastically fooled her suitors for almost four years before the maids relayed that she had been unweaving her loom by night. Here, Penelope is not given the choice of remarriage, she is forced to remarry because of her beauty, status, and lack of a man to take care of her, which was normal in these times but is completely outrageous nowadays. Although Penelope was Telemachus’ mother, it made no difference in how she was treated by him and it was made clear his status of superiority over the household: “So, mother,/ go back to your quarters. Tend to your own tasks,/ the distaff and the loom, and keep the women,/ working hard as well. As for giving orders,/ men will see to that, but I most of all:/ I hold the reins of power in this house”

While traditional readers of Homer’s, The Odyssey, view Odysseus as a hero, they often reduce Penelope to Odysseus’s helpless wife, but Penelope is more than just a damsel-in-distress. Penelope proves to be Odysseus’s heroic equal, as through her resilient, witty and strategic actions she ensures Odysseus fighting advantages over the suitors.

Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The nymph Calypso enslaves Odysseus for many years. Odysseus desires to reach home and his wife Penelope. It is the goddess Athena who sets the action of The Odyssey rolling; she also guides and orchestrates everything to Odysseus’ good. Women in The Odyssey are divided into two classes: seductresses and helpmeets. By doing so, Homer demonstrates that women have the power to either hinder of help men. Only one woman is able to successfully combine elements of both classes: Penelope. She serves as a role model of virtue and craftiness. All the other women are compared to and contrasted with Penelope.

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.

For this informative report I will attempt to point out the roles women and how they are viewed in ancient Greece. I will then show how these views are present in Homer’s "The Odyssey." How are women, goddess or mortal, conveyed in "The Odyssey?"

     Many people regard Homer’s epics as war stories—stories about men; those people often overlook the important roles that women play in the Odyssey. While there are not many female characters in the Odyssey, the few that there are, play pivotal roles in the story and one can gain a lot of insight by analyzing how those women are portrayed. Homer portrays the females in contradictory ways: the characters of Athena and Eurykleia are given strong, admirable roles while Melantho, the Sirens and Circe are depicted in a much more negative way. Penelope—the central female character—is given both negative and positive attributes.

In the time period of the 14th century, many woman faced inequality. Women were not viewed to uphold the same quota as men. Most females were viewed as passive to males and were not able to make many demands in their relationships or make any contributions to their own survival or life. In the “Wife of Bath Tale”, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer gives an insight into the struggles of a woman. Chaucer gives a voice for women who cannot speak for themselves. He creates a tale for the Wife of Bath that includes and questions the societal views of women. Written in the words of a woman, Chaucer undermines what it means to be a female in the fourteenth century who desires independence and

The changing role of women in literature from the late 8th century B.C. to the 21 century A.D. is evident that women have become more or less respectful in later works. This is portrayed in the Odyssey, Sakuntala and Good Country People.

The Wife of Bath is one of the most distinct, wild characters in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The way that Chaucer has drawn the character the Wife of Bath is very sexual, self-confident, feminist woman. Her

The Wife of Bath is not a one-dimensional character and cannot be placed into one stereotype entirely. While women are often shown as virgins in the medieval time, the Wife of Bath is very open about her sexual past and her experiences in love. Using the Bible to support her claims, the Wife of Bath defends her sexual experiences and multiple marriages by saying, “But wel I woot, expres, withouten lie, / God bad us for to wexe and multiplye: / That gentil text can I wel understonde” (Greenblatt 231). While women are portrayed as being helpless without men in their lives in many medieval works, the Wife of Bath shows great independence in the way she speaks and acts. She enforces her ability to take charge and find advantages for herself in marriage. While the stereotype of women call for submission to their husbands, she demonstrates her assertion of control as she governs her husbands to best suit her desires. Unlike the stereotype of older women searching to be unfaithful to their husbands, the Wife of Bath remained faithful to her last two husbands when she was older in age. The Wife of Bath defies stereotypical depictions of women in many of characteristics and actions throughout the Canterbury

readily accepted. Chaucer characterized the Wife of Bath as fitting almost every stereotype of what a “bad woman” would be during his time; the Wife is characterized as a scheming, controlling, manipulative woman who exerts her will over her husband’s and portrays them as good or bad based on their level of submittance to her will. However,

In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, various women, including gods and mortal women, have a pivotal role in Odysseus's journey home from the Trojan War. His journey is assisted and complicated by the intervention of women. The Greek women have a powerful influence in the lives of men.

Chaucer’s thinking was undoubtedly advanced for his time. His observation of women is unlike any in his period. Chaucer has womankind separate from the box of contentment and silence. He has his women characters identify as outspoken, clever and more lustful than their correspondents of the period. The prologue from The Wife of Bath’s Tales is a story about a woman, Alys, who voices her story about her power, her corruption, and her cunning mind. She is used as a symbol for empowerment for womankind. With the authority, she gained, she had to sacrifice her social standards for her supremacy over her significant other and herself. The story pulls the audience into details of how people from that time frame would say she lost her morals for

The rights and freedom of women during the Chaucerian times were quite limited. The role of women during this time was to keep house and be a faithful wife. Men were given the luxury of leaving the house to work in the daytime and to socialize with their friends in the evening. The possibility of violence was present should a woman threaten her husband’s authority. The Wife of Bath is the antithesis of the typical medieval women. She holds an alarming power over men during a time in which men and the Church were the powerhouses. Her attitude and expressions would be looked down upon, and they would be seen as rebellious. She is a justified rebel.