Essay Comparing The Wife Of Bath's Tale And Sir Gawain

In medieval literature women use men to further their agendas. Women influence men to do their dirty work. For example in the book “Macbeth” Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to kill his friend, King Duncan, so they could rule Scotland. Her influence being to call his manhood into question. “What beast was ’t, then, that made you break this enterprise to me?

Throughout Macbeth, three characters seem to have control of Macbeth’s action and his life. Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, and the We’ird Sisters all have some type of control over the actions of Macbeth. The wife of the play 's tragic hero, Lady Macbeth, pressures her husband into committing regicide so that she can then become queen of Scotland. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth constantly diminishes her husband 's manhood forcing him to feel less of a man. Unhae Langis, once wrote that, “Lady Macbeth evokes shame in him [Macbeth] to get him back into the contest.” By constantly shaming her husband, Lady Macbeth holds a great amount of control on the way he sees himself.

The saying goes, “Behind every great man is a great woman,” and, in some medieval romances, that great woman is scheming for her own benefit (and either for or contrary to that of the man’s). Feminine honor is tied to being a good wife, which means being sexually faithful to and obeying. In Bisclavret by Marie de France, Bisclavret’s wife betrays him both by taking away his humanity and by taking a lover, and for that, she is disfigured as her punishment. The inverse occurs in The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle: Ragnelle, disfigured by her stepmother, manipulates both Arthur and Gawain to secure her marriage with Gawain, and she is rewarded with beauty. These women are ultimately judged not by their manipulative actions but how

Manipulation is used in both Macbeth and La Belle Dame Sans Merci. Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to become king and for Macbeth to kill King Duncan. She manipulates Macbeth by telling Macbeth he is not a man, if he does not kill Duncan. Macbeth kills Duncan to prove he is a man and because he wants to be king (ShakeMac 1.7.35-44). In La Belle Dame Sans Merci, the witch manipulates the knight into thinking she is a beautiful girl, who is also a good girl.

In the beginning of the tale, the Wife of Bath clearly portrays how men behaved towards women in her day and age. Full of lust, the character of the King’s knight “by very force he took her maidenhead,” (line 64). This development of the tale might even expose something about the wife herself, possibly that one of her husbands was forceful or controlling concerning their marriage. Although she proceeded the tale with the knight’s punishment, she makes it seem as if men treating women rather poorly in the second century was not terribly uncommon. Due to a common Code of Chivalry among knights, those who would sexually assault women would be condemned to death.

As the novel progresses, the reader comes to recognize the segregation between the so called “lovers”. It is initially Lady Macbeth who is most dominant in the relationship as she schemes the murder of king Duncan to be committed by her beloved husband, Macbeth. It is comprehensible at this point that Lady Macbeth does not agonize over the punishment her husband may receive if he perpetrates such a felony. Lady Macbeth is extremely proficient in manipulating her husband to act on king Duncan. She does this by making Macbeth feel distressed during her process of coercion.

Lady Macbeth’s lust for power was evident as she pushed Macbeth to kill Duncan because she wanted to be queen, but after the deed is done, it is apparent that it has messed with her mind. If it was a common act to sleepwalk and talk in your sleep the gentlewoman would not assume the doctor could prescribe medicine to help. Lastly, it is apparent that Lady Macbeth’s lust for power drove her to insanity when she committed suicide. Macbeth and Seyton heard a scream and Seyton went to check on the cause. After returning he made the statement, “The queen, my lord, is dead.” (Cowther 5:5: 17).

The woman answers the question for the knight ,which was control over her husband, saving him and in return asks the knight to marry her. Since the knight pledged his life he has to marry her, but is miserable because he has to marry an ugly old woman. The woman later asks the knight why he is miserable, and upon hearing his response she asks him which he would rather have and ugly old wife who is faithful or a beautiful wife who cheats. The knight then tells her to decide, trusting her judgement, and upon having what women desire most she turns into a beautiful

Shows how criminals and offenders have to choose between two doors in an arena. One has a beast that would kill anyone and the other is a lady that will marry the offender or criminal. An adviser to the king falls in love with the princess this act offends the king and now has

Shakespeare uses metaphors to influence the audience's understanding that not everyone is fit to rule. The idea that not everyone is fit to rule is shown through Lady Macbeth’s manipulation. After Macbeth receives the prophecy that he will become king of Scotland, he is manipulated by Lady Macbeth to carry out the murder of King Duncan, so that Macbeth can take his place in the great chain of being. Lady Macbeth knows she must be manipulative and forceful over her husband to make sure he carries out the murder and the ambition of power is fulfilled for them both, she says “Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valour of my tongue”. This metaphor influences the audience’s understanding that Lady Macbeth