What Women Most Desire Essay

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.

The wife of bath stands up for women equality and does not let men push her around. She had five husbands, with each of them she used a technique to get what she wanted. She would blame them for things they did not do, she would make them buy her things and have complete mastery over all of them. With her fifth husband things become rocky with her having the upper hand in the relationship. This is shown through the book that her husband reads which in that book degrades women. She snaps back into this mode of control and stands up for women by tearing the pages out of this book. The wife of bath thinks women should always have mastery in a marriage,this leads her to realize with her fifth husband women get taken for granted and have a bad

Women from the beginning of time have been determined to make their mark in the world of a "so-called" man 's world. Women believed they deserved the right to express their opinions about family matters as well as business affairs. The women in Beowulf and The Wife of Bath Tale have different issues, however they are for all the same reason: be heard by the power dominating sex. In the eighth century men were thought of as being superior to women. In the fourteenth century women played roles that made them feel superior over males. Both poems illustrate how women were used as symbols by powerful men to support their nobility. The opposing dynamics of the feeble women in Beowulf

Using direct characterization, Chaucer describes the Wife of Bath, saying that she is deaf on one ear, had five husbands, is an old hand at pilgrimages, gap-toothed, and large: “A rug was tucked around her buttocks large, and on her feet a pair of sharpened spurs.” She was also good at making cloth. Chaucer also uses indirect characterization to identify the wife of Bath as worldly in both senses, meaning she has seen the world, and have experienced it. Her clothes are extravagant, which shows and symbolizes how much wealth she has. Chaucer describes her as a very talkative woman, especially arguing with other people. This character personifies Chaucer’s idea of what a lustful woman looks like. She is fun-loving, although prideful, and since she might be widowed, she has the freedom to run her own business and travel the world. This indicates two things: her husband doesn’t know she’s doing it, or her husband does not exist at

Within the tale that the Wife of Bath creates, Chaucer’s opinions shine through in the dialogue of the women. In a time period where women

In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” the knight comes across women that say they desire a man that has wealth, honor, or even to be widowed (926-928) as examples of what women most crave from men. But that is one of the common misunderstandings different sexes have against each other. You can’t ask one female to speak for all females because we don’t all think the same. Most women or men want someone who is ambitious someone that is honest and has very strong murals. In

There is an evident change from women being completely subjected to men's superiority and authority to them starting the question the social rules and beliefs. Through "The Wife of Bath" Chaucer illustrates women’s need to be in control in order for men to be happy. Through Alisoun, Chaucer demonstrates how women are beginning to advocate for their rights and illustrates medieval society’s views of women in power ultimately conveying that women need to be in power for men to be happy

Throughout history, gender roles have been an important barrier in society. Women are forced to satisfy expectations established by men and society. “My Last Duchess,” by Robert Browning, focuses on the powerful Duke establishing certain expectations of the Duchess, and attempting to control her. Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, concentrates on Laertes establishing certain expectations of Ophelia, and seeking to control her. A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf, centers on societal expectations of Judith, and her father trying to control her. In all three texts, men have the ability to control women and have the freedom to do as they please. Women must conform to the expectations of faithfulness, attentiveness, and chastity.

     During the time period in which Chaucer wrote The Wife of Bath women were most commonly seen as prizes won by men. They were treated merely as objects of housework and sex. Although, women of Homer’s time period were not degraded as severely, both periods did not allow the due respect women should have received. The Wife of Bath is an exact antithesis of this view. The Wife of Bath, known as Alison, is the complete opposite of the typical woman of that time. In fact, she acts more like the husband in the marriage. She tells stories of how her first three husbands suffered greatly at her hands. Alison also goes on to describe how

One main theme in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is female dominance and equality. In the tale, the wife portrays her dominance through her own experience. For example, the image of the whip sets her role as master, and she tells everyone that she is the head of her household. Despite her claim that experience is her sole power, the Wife of Bath evidently feels the need to create her authority in a more scholarly manner. She mimics the habits of the scholars and churchmen by supporting her claims with quotations from antique works and scripture.

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

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

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

The Wife of Bath's actions also stem from her strong greed and need for control. That particular husband, her fifth one, was the only one she could not control. The desperate guilt he feels after hitting her, puts her in an excellent bargaining position. While lying on the floor she puts on a dramatic act of self-pity to make him feel even worse, and later describes: "He gave the bridle completely into my hand" (219).

example of the complicated nature of Chaucer’s belief system. On the one hand, we have many strong female characters that despite still being extremely dependant on the men in their lives, know what they want out of life. From a contrasting point of view, readers see a group of men, including Chaucer as the writer himself, making fun of the very nature of women as a whole. Is this really how Chaucer felt towards women, or is the prologue of The Wife of Bath’s Tale simply a parody of the opinions of his time?