ipl-logo

Power In The Wife Of Bath's Tale Essay

1699 Words7 Pages

The multiplicity of voices in The Canterbury Tales makes it difficult to impose a certain meaning on any individual voice or narrative, or to comment on authorial intent. Whilst we cannot pinpoint a solid ‘Chaucer-author’ voice, each of his pilgrim narrators have distinct styles and tones, holding vastly varying opinions, particularly in relation to gender and power. This is indeed the case with the Wife of Bath and the Clerk, whose narratives both address the power struggle between men and women. With examination of The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and The Clerk’s Tale, this essay will argue that power is a patriarchal possession, which manifests itself through the acts of gazing and glossing, and against which Alisoun and Griselda are contested.

The Wife of Bath is in direct discourse with the notion of medieval antifeminism, which was ‘undoubtedly one of the loudest voices amongst …show more content…

She applies this idea to the fact that ‘the determining male gaze projects its phantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly’, but not necessarily represent her accurately. Whoever holds the dominant position of power can represent the oppressed masses however they choose, regardless of the strength of the oppressed individual. Indeed, Alisoun makes this analogy not long after she says ‘stibourn I was as is a leonesse’ (l.637): powerful, but forced into subservience by (mis)representation in a society which privileges the male gaze. Further, though Alisoun’s voice challenges this double standard, we must not forget that she Chaucer’s creation. He is inscribing a female voice which critiques the very action of inscribing the female voice, making it necessarily and paradoxically inauthentic. Thus, it could be said that Chaucer acknowledged the unbalanced gender power structure of the literary and artistic

Show More
Related

  • The Struggle For Power In Chaucer's The Wife Of Bath

    249 Words  | 1 Pages

    Chaucer characterizes The Wife of Bath as controlling and powerful. The Wife of Bath was a complete contradiction of the typical female, during this time. The average woman was submissive and reserved. Whereas, The Wife of Bath possessed character traits that one would associate with men. Chaucer emphasizes this trait by describing her in such ways one would describe a man.

    Read More

  • Comparing Women In Sir Gawain And The Canterbury Tales

    508 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the beginning of literature, women have been depicted as devious individuals. As a result, women put use to this stereotype to get what they want. This is proven, especially in medieval literature. Examples of this are shown in works like “Macbeth,” * Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” and “The Canterbury Tales”.

    Read More

  • Women In Othello And Chaucer's Wife Of Bath

    975 Words  | 4 Pages

    The women in Othello and Chaucer's Wife of Bath differ, but in the end both want their husbands to love them. In Othello there are only three women displayed in the story, but the statements that were said about these three women were the belief that all women in that society were all the same- evil, whores who were temptress to the men. The three women; Desdemona, the wife of Othello, Emilia, the wife of Iago, and Bianca, perceived as a prostitute who is a “customer” (l. 138. 4.1) of Cassio. Iago is one of the main characters who degrades and slanders all women including his wife Emilia.

    Read More

  • Antigone And The Canterbury Tales: A Literary Analysis

    1719 Words  | 7 Pages

    Throughout the course of human history, literary works of various styles and genres across multiple cultures have had varying depictions of both genders. A literary work’s depiction of gender, particularly females, is generally dependent on the culture and/or society its author hail from as well as other factors such as regional and political ones. Despite such differences, literary works can share similarities in the depiction of genders. Antigone and The Canterbury Tales are prime examples of such types of literary works. Despite that nearly two millennia past between the publication of the two-respective works, the two have similar as well as contrasting portrayals of women.

    Read More

  • Beowulf: The Role Of Women In Literature

    846 Words  | 4 Pages

    Maybe the author might not intend to, but the readers engulfed with the male-centered mindset might omit the position of women. It is worth demystifying the thought that women should only be visible to men. They have a fundamental role to play in the pieces of literature that we interact with and the society as a whole. Just as pointed out in this study, the society cannot succeed without the input of women, even if they are not seen in the forefront. Even though it would appear that Hildeburh did not succeed in the role she was intended to perform, the way she manages herself in the whole process is of great significance.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of The Wife Of Bath

    1052 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Wife of Bath: An Analysis of Her Life and Her Tale The Wife of Bath’s Prologue stays consistent with the facts that experience is better than the societal norms, specifically those instilled by the church leadership. Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath to display the insanity of the church, but through switching and amplifying their view of men and chastity onto the opposite gender. The church doctrine at the time held celibacy in an idolized manner, forgetting the inability for humans to ever reach perfection, or live up to this standard. They also did not hold women in a high regard at all, again this is where Chaucer flips the role, as the Wife of Bath describes her five marriages in her prologue, essentially describing each as a conquest, where the result is her having all control.

    Read More

  • Women In Beowulf And The Wife Of Bath's Tale

    1333 Words  | 6 Pages

    Beowulf and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” are both narratives in which gender acts as an important theme within their individual communities; both have underlying meanings when it comes to defining what the role men and women in a good community should be. Or in other words, both stories paint a vivid picture of the role of women during the medieval time period, by suggesting that one gender had more power over another. However, these two narratives take alternative paths when expressing their views; Beowulf conveys its message through what is missing, while “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” incorporates satire and uses explicit narrative when telling the experience of a woman that is highly different from other women in her time. Furthermore, another difference that is appealing to the reader’s eyes, besides the way the two narratives reflect to women’s role in medieval times, is that men become the hero in Beowulf, while “the wife”, so a woman, becomes the authority figure in the story of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.” I want to first introduce the two main differences between the two narratives and then I will explain how regardless of the differences, both of these narratives’ main goal is to show that women had less power and a good community back that time was male dominated.

    Read More

  • Feminist Criticism In Othello

    1360 Words  | 6 Pages

    A Modern View of Feminist Criticism William Shakespeare 's "Othello” can be analyzed from a feminist perspective. This criticism focuses on relationships between genders, like the patterns of thoughts, behavior, values, enfranchisement, and power in relations between and within sexes. A feminist examination of the play enables us to judge the distinctive social esteems and status of women and proposes that the male-female power connections that become an integral factor in scenes of Othello impact its comprehension. I believe that the critical lens that provides modern society with the most compelling view of literature is Feminist Criticism because it analyzes distrust and disloyalty among relationships, women being treated as possessions

    Read More

  • The Wife Of Bath Feminist Essay

    1060 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the fourteen century, men were always the superior, head of the household, the breadwinner, but women were always inferior, they would stay at home, do the house work, cook, and never would have a job. Well, times have changed. Women are reaching an equal status to men in political, social and economic matters It’s part of the idea called Feminism. In many ways the Wife of Bath displays many characteristic of women in the 21st century. Instead of being directed by men, she views herself as an independent person.

    Read More

  • Gender Role In Wife Of Bath's Tale By Geoffrey Chaucer

    775 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the book of Wife of Bath’s Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer shows the role of a woman being weak creatures while men are economically powerful and educated. Women are seen as inheritor of eve and thus causes

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Wife Of Bath's Tale

    399 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Wife of Bath and her tale are the most similar out of all the tales because they both share a domineering outlook over others. In the general prologue she is told to have had five husbands and is described as a looker, “Her face was bold and handsome and ruddy,” (Chaucer 39). In her prologue she goes more in depth of her time spent with her five husbands. Wife of Bath talks most about how she gains control over her husbands. For instance, her fifth husband was the controlling force in their marriage until he made the mistake of hitting her and telling her he would do anything to keep her with him and said, “My own true wife, do as you wish for the rest of your life…” (335).

    Read More

  • Comparing Marriage In Wife Of Bath´s Prologue And The Franklin's Tale

    2103 Words  | 9 Pages

    According to William E. Mead ‘the evils of matrimony, […], were a favourite theme in the Middle Ages’ . This means that marriage was a recurring topic and especially marriages that had trials and problems to overcome. Indeed, in the Canterbury Tales Chaucer uses for some of his tales the setting of marriage. In this essay, the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and the Franklin’s Tale will be used to demonstrate how Chaucer represented marriage and what possible functions could it have. With functions I mean in the texts as part of the plot as well as how marriage functions as a plot device.

    Read More

  • Wife Of Bath's Tale Analysis

    380 Words  | 2 Pages

    Canterbury Tales: “Wife of Baths Tale” Imagine being a knight who is courteous and wise beyond many people! This character simply persists to be a modest man in shining armor, and a person who acts by the laws of chivalry. Excluding the fact that this man raped a young maiden, any one would be more than happy to be in his shoes. This character is what the true meaning of what a knight really is.

    Read More

  • Wife Of Bath Analysis

    910 Words  | 4 Pages

    A story that reflects a timeless issue of equality, morals, and lesson on what women really desire. The Wife of Bath by Geoffrey Chaucer is a story in The Canterbury Tales that expresses multiple moral lessons and an exciting dialogue that provides an entertaining story. The two stories that will be examined today are the “Pardoners Tale” and “The Wife of Bath”, after much evaluation I believe that “The Wife of Bath” is the better story. This is the better story because it’s more entertaining and also has more morals with better quality.

    Read More

  • The Hunger Games Feminist Analysis

    1000 Words  | 4 Pages

    Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.

    Read More

More about Power In The Wife Of Bath's Tale Essay

Open Document