In today’s world, the controversial topic of rape has become a generalized issue in modern day society. Shockingly, more and more people are being sexually assaulted and raped which has resulted in everyone thinking it’s a common issue that is no surprise when it happens. Rape has been a wound to society since the beginning of time. Even in the Medieval period, rape was an issue that had to be dealt with. An author named Geoffrey Chaucer, the writer of The Canterbury Tales, sheds light on this issue even when his story was written in the late 1300’s. Much of the issues society has today are rooted from earlier times and have been a stain in our world ever since. Chaucer writes about a group of Pilgrims that are traveling to Canterbury near a Holy Shrine. These Pilgrims tell entertaining, moral tales to pass the time like people would do on a long car ride. The group of Pilgrims all participate in a contest and the person with the best tale wins. The winner must tell an effective, entertaining, and moral tale which is the best out of all the contestants. Out of all the stories, the two that are the most prominent are the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” and “The Pardoner’s Tale”. Between the two, the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” definitely stands out more than the Pardoner’s story. The “Wife of Bath’s Tale” is the better story because it is more entertaining, refers to a more controversial topic, and is overall more effective.
Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath Tale” is by far more entertaining
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” begins with an unequivocal incident of sexual assault, yet how that assault and the question of consent are interpreted are complicated in light of Suzanne Edwards’ essay, “The Rhetoric of Rape.” Edwards’ essay provides a new historicist lens to provide a context in which the reader can perhaps reconcile the problematic nature of sexual assault that Chaucer inserts into the “loathly lady” narrative. The rhetoric employed by the law in regards to rape complicates Chaucer’s knight’s crime by creating an atmosphere of ambiguity that raises more questions than answers. The disconnect that occurs between the rapist and his victim seems quite abominable on the part of Chaucer and his narrator in that it is quickly forgiven
With the reoccurring element of trials that push the characters to the edge, the authors of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” comment on the nature of punishment and forgiveness. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the author uses punishment and forgiveness to force the reader to acknowledge human pitfalls and the stumbling blocks that pride and chivalry create. Chaucer, through his work in the “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” uses punishment and forgiveness to critique the character’s actions and the idea of autonomy. As the verse romance and the frame story progress, the reader is able to glean the effects of punishment and forgiveness on the story as a whole and the characters that create the story.
Geoffrey Chaucer used the Canterbury Tales to highlight some of the problems in his culture. Chaucer points out specifically the corrupt religious leaders and the role and view of women.
In The Canterbury Tales, more than twenty pilgrims meet at the Tabard Inn, preparing to leave to Canterbury to visit the shrine of the archbishop, Saint Thomas Becket. Before the travellers had set off on their pilgrimage, a character known as the Host decided create a game between them; all of the pilgrims would tell two tales during the entirety of the trip. Who ever would win would receive a free meal paid by the losers of the game and who ever decided to not participate in the game would be forced to pay during any stop that were made during the trip.. Two of the tales that were told during the pilgrimage included “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Pardoner’s Tale.” Once the pilgrims had returned to the Tabard Inn, the Host judged the tales based on two factors: moral education and entertainment value.
Chaucer’s Portrayal of the Wife of Bath The Wife of Bath presents the reader with a woman who compiles to the stereotypes corresponding with the negative misogyny of women during the medieval times. Wife of Bath is viewed the same as this stereotypical woman. Some can agree with Chaucer’s choice of these negative traits of The Wife of Bath, but the same conclusion is always met. Chaucer chooses to display the Wife of Bath as a misogynistic symbol of negative traits in order to use her as an object of mockery.
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.
Growing up in today’s world presents a numerous amount of different challenges, hardships, and an abundance of controversy among other daily tribulations. Not only do people encounter certain hardships some may face life scarring events. For some being a victim of rape is categorized into one of these situations and it may become a recurring burden for the individual. He or she may have not received justice for the action that took place or they may have been humiliated. A curious individual or one who has been affected by this first hand may ask how do we as a world overcome such an act.
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s frame story “The Canterbury Tales”, we read a story about a group pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, which gives us insight of the life in fourteenth century England. On this journey, the Pardoner, the Wife of Bath and the Nun’s Priest all tell stories reflecting their unique personalities and views on life. Two of these stories are the “The Pardoner's Tales” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, and even though these stories were written a long time ago, we are still able to relate to them today. The Pardoner is a self-serving, non trustworthy man, so it comes as no surprise that this is the story that he tells, as he sells indulgences for people’s sins.
Chaucer’s Best Story Essay In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, there are many entertaining values and moral lessons. In Geoffrey Chaucer's, The Canterbury tales, a group of pilgrims are journeying to the holy site of Canterbury. Due to the long journey, the host plans to start a contest between the pilgrims. Each pilgrim has to tell an entertaining story and the pilgrim with the most entertaining story wins a free dinner.
Geoffrey Chaucer, considered one of the greatest English poets in the Middle Ages, composed The Canterbury Tales in the late fourteenth century. In the novel twenty-nine men and women representing all aspects of Medieval society embark on a religious pilgrimage to the cathedral at Canterbury in southeast England. On their journey their host engages them in a storytelling contest with a free meal as the prize upon their return. Chaucer wrote the tales in Middle English, the vernacular of the Medieval period, making his work accessible to all classes of people.
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).
What would a satisfying tale be without consisting of a moral lesson and some entertainment? As one can notice in The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, there are many tales told that consist of both values. In this book various different pilgrims are on their way to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas á Becket. As they travel they are told to tell four tales, two on the way there and two on the way back. The pilgrim that presents the tale with the best moral education and the greatest entertainment value wins the contest.
In “The Canterbury Tales” Chaucer illustrates the corruption of the church through the religious characters in both the tales and the prologue and their obsession with money. Illustrating the fact that medieval England, the church had a big impact on the lives of people due to them being able to “read” the bible. In many cases, this was uses to manipulate people into giving their money to church. Throughout the tales, people are shown to stand up to the church and beat them at their own game and this provides the ideal response to church corruption.
Darby Puckett Ms. Maria Kersh Honors European Literature 11 April 2023 Wife of Bath's Tale and Miller's Tale The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told by an ever-eccentric group of people with the eventual end goal of winning a prize. While many of these stories do share many similarities, overlaps, and potential contrast, in this writing, the primary discussion will be centered around the tale of the Wife of Bath and the tale of the Miller. Now before the comparison themselves are made, the storytellers themselves ought to be mentioned. In the first prologue, we are introduced to all of the pilgrims and given a sort of look into what kind of characters they are.
In the “Canterbury Tales,” there are originally three priest traveling, yet Chaucer abandons two of the priests so that “The Nun’s Priest Tale” can be told by the third priest traveling alongside the prioress. “The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on a journey to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. (Strohm)” This particular story takes place at a cottage that belongs to an old widow. In “The Nun’s Priest Tale”, Chaucer is able to fully exploit the nature of human weaknesses and behaviors in his tale by using the traditional, implicit, and literary element of beast fables.