Women In The Wife Of Bath's Tale

In Chaucer’s novel The Canterbury Tales each individual tale has a well suited character to tell the tale. Meaning that based on what is learned in the general prolog about each character, it is easy to draw connections between the story teller, and their story. The Wife of Bath’s Tale is told by Dame Alison. She is not only a seamstress but also a very experienced wife. The Wife of Bath’s tale is extremely fitting for Dame Alison to tell because the moral of the tale, as well as Dame Alison’s own morals are the same. They ultimately draw the conclusions that all women really want is power over men in their relationships.

Who is superior, man or woman? In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, situated in the 14th century, at this point in time there was a big difference in society between man and woman. Woman used to be the housekeepers, and did not have any independence from men. This aspect has been changing over the time as we get closer to the 21st century, women have been gaining respect and equality similar to men, and nowadays women can have the same jobs that men have.

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 begins the prologue to her tale by boasting of her experience in marriage. She has married five men already, and ignores the idea that this is a reproach to Christian principles. She is merely adhering to the Christian principle of "be fruitful and multiply." She cites the case of King Solomon, who had multiple wives, and tells the group that she welcomes the opportunity for her sixth husband. She also points out that Jesus never lays down a law about virginity, and essentially states that we have the parts for sex and should use them as such. The Pardoner objects to the Wife of Bath's musings on marriage, but she decides to tell

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.

How much of a difference was it that the Wife was not even beautiful? "'...I was forty then, to tell the truth. But still I always had a coltish tooth. Yes I'm gap tooth, it suits me well...(Bath 274) '" The Wife when describing herself says she was old and ugly. Her bright clothes and detailed cover chiefs are fake rather than graceful. Her hat is as broad as a small shield. Her clothes are of good quality "fine scarlet reed" and her shoes are "moist and new." She did this to advertise herself and her wealth. The Wife of Bath also made it known that she was not solo on this philosophy. She also believed that women, if they know what’s good for them, could lie twice as well as men can and that all women basically behave the way she does.

One instance that anti-feminism is hugely demonstrated was in the Wife of Bath’s tale, where the knight gets a happy ending and an obedient wife. Her prologue introduces the theme of sovereignty in her marriages, which is also seen in her tale. However, her belief of sovereignty in marriage is gone during her marriage with her fifth husband. After Jankyn submits to her and gives up everything, she claims that “after that day, we never had debate… / there’s no wife you would find… / who was so kind / And also true, and so was he to me” (Chaucer 828- 831). She does end up receiving the land and finances, but she becomes obedient to her husband. The idea of sovereignty and obedience is displayed again in the wife’s tale. After the knight rapes

Her self-proclaimed wisdom and experience makes her justly and to a certain extent credible enough to stand in the position that she does that is as heroine of her time. The Wife of Bath's Prologue is lengthy but everything said is important and captures a prime image of who the Wife of Bath truly is but also the society women are dealing with. Also her prologue retaliates against the problems of inferiority of women at hand. She does her best to defend herself for her life occurrences as well as preserving the merit of women. She explains "a sensible woman only busies herself to win love were there's none"(177), although one may say that this is a negative way for a woman to gain power .The positive note is that the wife of Bath cares to give the only advise she knows that has worked for her. The fact that the Wife of Bath cares about sharing advice in a sense that will cost women a chance to gain power ,cancels out the seven deadly sin of greed in her character.

Sigmund Freud attempted to answer the single most difficult question known to man and failed on all accounts. What does a woman want? Geoffrey Chaucer’s “wife of bathe’s tale.” From the Canterbury tales makes quite the controversial claim. He states that woman desire to have control, and I am inclined to agree. To a point. However, I believe that it is human nature to try and control everything around us, to be able to think how something may affect us and act accordingly. Throughout history men have generally been the leaders in society and have dictated what goes on in the household. In the past women had practically zero legal rights and were even considered property to their husbands. But now that women have moved up significantly in the

Marriage is the relationship between a man and a woman, not between multiple people. The wife becomes deplorable and corrupted for marrying several husbands. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, the wife has several husbands who she confides with which contradicts what the Church says marriage should be.

Chaucer's most criticized and talked about work The Canterbury Tales displays a significant amount of themes throughout the tales. The most common themes in the work are the following: marriage, gentilesse, salvation, youth and old age, and. “The Wife of Bath's Tale” incorporates all of the common themes, but is about the woman being the dominant partner in marriage. On the opposite end of the spectrum, “The Clerk’s Tale” has the themes of marriage, gentilesse, and salvation. Those themes are in contrast to “The Wife of Bath's Tale”.

The Wife of Bath uses bible verses in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue.” Further, she employs the verses as an outline of her life to find reason in God to justify her actions. Nevertheless, the purpose of the verses differs within each stanza of the poem. The Wife of Bath is a sexually promiscuous, lustful, and manipulative woman. She marries men one after the other as they get older and die. In order to combat and overthrow the speculation and criticism being thrust upon her by societal norms because of her marriages, the wife turns to specific bible passages to find reason in life and support for her actions (Article Myriad.com). When the wife is having sex quite frequently and with different men she is said to be fruitful and multiplying. According to the wife, this is what she is told to do in the bible passage, which she has misinterpreted. Ironically, The Wife of Bath is using a predominantly male dominated book to back up and support her reasons for women being equal to men (Article Myriad.com). Not only has she referred to the benefits of adultery through the bible, she has also attempted to undermine the power of men in the very same way she has attempted to prove that the genders are equal. From this, it can be interpreted that although the wife claims to be providing evidence for women being equal to men, she is actually saying that women are better than men. She misinterprets the readings of the bible and male written passages on purpose in order to suit her needs.

Misogyny is not only visible in the Miller’s tale, but also in the Wife of Bath’s tale through the very superficial standards set for women by men. The old woman asks that the knight marries her in return for giving him the answer to the riddle and he reacts in disgust and horror, “‘...to take me as your wife…‘Alas and woe is me!...I am ugly and poor…my damnation! Alas, that any of my birth should ever be so foully disgraced!” (Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” 199-213). The knight is visibly distraught, using words such as “damnation” and “disgraced” when the old woman expresses her wish to marry him. He displays these emotions not because she wants to get married, but because she is ugly and poor. He is worried because an ugly wife will mar his reputation and is a poor reflection of him. This translates to the misogynistic society during the time period where women were seen as property to be shown off, rather than people who deserved respect. The recurring theme of misogyny in these two tales shows that Chaucer does not feel sympathy for the opposite gender, but instead belittles their plight.

I believe the wife from “The Wife of Bath’s Tales” couldn’t be a modern women in her own unique ways. Two ways which she might not reflect off as a modern women is how she likes/expects to be treated or even her expectations towards men. The twenty-first century would not only be a different environment for her and possibly change her personality but it would also change her outcome on things or men around her. Most of the roles of the women in society don’t match the same as the women today, their desire have changed as well as their communications with one another. The men today would regard her views as it being insane or impossible for some men possibly thinking back ” how was that done or allowed back then.”

There are 195 countries in total all over the world, yet there are only five countries in the list that are still affiliated with communism (Rosenberg). It is amazing to believe that we have reached the Twenty-First Century and there are still countries that allow complete control over their citizens. The thought of having complete power can bring joy to some, but it can certainly bring melancholy to others. Having to follow the orders of someone at all costs can surely bring humiliation and dismay to the victim. Many people get disappointed in following orders sometimes, but they can never imagine how obeying orders used to be. The role of a woman in medieval times was purely degrading. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” touches on the subject on how women in this time period were treated. The medieval times were full of degradation for women, unconstitutional authority from men, and lack of justice.