Wife Of Bath Anti Feminist Essay

Within “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale,” the Wife also uses manipulation to forward her desires while conforming to the patriarchal societal

The wife of baths tale takes place during a pilgrimage in the mid-14()0s, during such a time when not all women were ladies but being polite, noble and kind was fundamental at the time of this stories portrayment. The wife of bath's tale depicts a not so spoken element of a widowed women that's in an endless pursuit of pleasure. The first line of the first page states that "Experience, though no authority." Her many men she's wedded has given her a seasoning of knowledge that can't be learned from

These sources supported male claims to superiority over women.” (Stuber 6). What influenced the misogynistic gender roles in the medieval was through earlier literature pieces such as the bible. The Wife of bath was a rebellious character during the medieval times, she broke through the implicit gender roles society had imposed on her at the time. The Wife of Bath’s mindset, preference, and actions were thought to be ahead of its time.

The Wife is referring to one of Aesop's fables about who was superior in the relationship. It was argued with a reference to a picture of man having authority over the lion, and then the lion responds with an obvious truth. Since man had painted the picture, of course it would be presented that way. If the lion had painted the picture, the circumstances would have been different. What the Wife of Bath is saying is that since men established the dynamics of the male/female relationship, women are unable to change the image. Had control been in the hands of women from the start, they would be in control of relationships.

She believes that women should have absolute power over their marriage. Sovereignty is one of her significant values. Throughout the tale it is apparent that the storyteller still has those same beliefs. During the knight’s quest to acquire the answer, he finds an old lady. This older woman holds the answer he had been searching for. She will tell him the solution if, he promises her one thing. He is to do as she says, if she is ever to need anything. After presenting the answer that the old lady gave him, his life was spared. As a result the old lady asks the knight to marry her. Disgust filled the knight however, he had no choice. In this case the older woman had the power over the knight. The knight had to abide by her request. His negative attitude towards the old lady does not go unnoticed. A preposition if then offered to the knight. The old lady can stay old and loyal or become beautiful and treacherous. Power is rooted in the woman and not the man. The knight has the choice but no sense of ability to change her. The Wife of Bath’s made it clear that she believed women should be in command. It is decided that the old lady will turn beautiful and remain

In "The Wife of Bath" Alisoun challenges the society’s views on women’s sexuality and advocates for women to take control over and have ownership over their own bodies. Throughout the tale, Alisoun defends herself and all women by arguing

The Wife of Bath apparently attempts to emphasize female dominance over men. She contradicts many of the harsh customs and declares her own haughty assessment of women’s function in society and in relationships. In the story, Chaucer explains that what women want is sovereignty over their husbands. According to the tale, women desire to be treated as masters over their love. The story also suggests that

The Wife of Bath's greedy need for complete control over men reflects in most of her actions. She seems proud of this, and constantly describes women as cruel creatures that bring great sorrow to men. When talking about her first three husbands, she says that she "governed them" (193), and "chided them cruelly" (193). She makes life for her husbands a living hell, having no respect for their feelings. Just like the women questioned in her story, she cares only for "riches...amusement...rich apparel...," to be "flattered and pampered," and for "pleasure in bed" (225). When talking of her first three marriages, she says: "Since they had given me all their land, why should I take pains to please them, unless it be for my own profit and pleasure" (192). In her story, the moral is that all women want to hold the whip in a relationship, and it is in the man's best interest to let them do so. The Wife of Bath is not a woman to be admired and, worst of all, she insists all

The prologue of this tale showed that the Wife of Bath was not seen as an upstanding woman, nor did she desire to be seen as one. She portrayed feminism, almost as soon as she began speaking in the prologue, she explained that she had gone through five husbands, and she was on the look out for a sixth. She also admitted that she married for money:

Beginning with the prologue, the Wife of Bath makes an argument for why she believes sexuality is the key weapon to use against men to achieve her goals. Doing such, she twists the typical gender roles of the time; that women are dependent upon their husbands and need a partner for protection and wealth. The Wife also shows in her stories how she was able to falsely accuse men and continuously hold the upper hand with them, which goes against traditional gender roles of the time of women being helpless without a husband.

When the supporting cast of women effort for mastery over their husbands; they abandon it the moment they attain it. In an era where chastity was expected and cherished, the Wife of Bath presents a refreshing alternative to such concepts. She boasts of her sexual proclivity and contends that male genitalia serves a greater purpose than simply urination. Her freeness in indulging in sexual activity and her multiple spouses speaks to her inner confidence and lack of privacy. Her character discusses the power relations between men and women and posits that women desire domination and control over men (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, 229); however, the domination that they crave is surface level in that women relapse into their subordinate stereotypes once they have been granted such control.

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

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.

This was a tough one to read. At no point did I see The Wife of Bath as a strong feminist character. Maybe in her day and time, her behavior as a woman was viewed as somewhat independent and strong. However, after reading this story, it seemed to be somewhat of a joke. Chaucer appears to be making a mockery of women. He takes a real issue that women face and turns it into a comedy. I’m sure that women of her time desired to be treated with respect and as equals. But he magnifies the negative stereotypes associated with women. He portrayed “our spokeswoman” to be ignorant, aloof,manipulative, deceitful, greedy and domineering (if given any authority). At no point did she prove herself to be empowering or show the ability to lead the charge

The Wife of Bath appears to be a liberated woman. Her tale is very long and she is able to hold her own among the bickering pilgrims. She makes it know that she believes women should be equal to men. She also has had 5 husbands all of whom she tells them how she got the upper hand in the marriage or became the boss. The only problem is when this happened they would die. The 5th husband was twice her age and she got her eye on him at her 4th husbands funeral. She got the upper hand on him, because of a fist fight between them and she pretended to play dead. He was very upset and told her he would do whatever she wanted if she were to be okay and not die. She spoke her mind and was rather rebellious in a time when men dominated society.