ipl-logo

Rhetoric Of Rape

349 Words2 Pages
“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
Show More
Related
663 Words | 3 Pages

So there is really no one else to hurt you and he will do no more than take your virtue.” (53-56) Which means that those with high class or friars would rape women that were alone. In both stories, Chaucer shows how corrupt the political leaders were in his

Read More
685 Words | 3 Pages

With each tale, there are different events that occur in order to reach the main topic of these tales. Within the Knight’s Tale, the Wife of Bath’s Tale, and the Pardoner's Tale, Chaucer does a phenomenal job in having these tales represent the societal problems of his era. Geoffrey Chaucer uses the Knight’s Tale to explains how love can corrupt the trust between two cousins. The knight is telling the story of Palamon and Arcita, two prisoners of wars that are locked up in a prison in the city of Athens. One day, the two look outside the prison window and see a fair young lady called, Emily.

Read More
140 Words | 1 Pages

In 16th Century England, the traditional Patriarchal definition of rape, which subsumed abduction, meant that laws were constructed to give the power of appeal not to the victim, but to her father or husband instead. This meant that male family members could stop females from eloping with the partner of their choice, or from escaping abusive relationships. Because the statutes didn’t value women’s voices in cases of rape, they were effectively silenced from speaking up. This is demonstrated in Act 1 Scene 1 of Titus Andronicus.

Read More
761 Words | 4 Pages

In the pardoner's tales, the moral is how greed can destroy people. Whereas the moral in “The Wife of Bath Tale” applies to rape. In “The Pardoner's Tale”, Chaucer explains,“ No longer was it death those fellows sought, For they were so thrilled to see the sight, the gold was so beautiful and bright” (171-174). “And with that poison he could kill his friends. To men in such a state the Devil sends Thoughts of this kind, and has a full permission To lure them on to sorrow and perdition; For this young man was utterly content To kill them both and never to repent” (246-251).

Read More
1243 Words | 5 Pages

In the Wife of Bath’s, she broke all the stereotypes Medieval society thought a wife is. She tells the people that being married intercourse is part of marriage and God has made privates parts to make generations, not to waste in doing nothing. Being categorized or stereotyped in Medieval society was hard for married women in the Medieval era because often they were portrayed as disloyal, uncontrolled sexual beasts because of the lack of marriage

Read More
1297 Words | 6 Pages

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are two pieces of British literature that are incredibly interesting and thorough. Women play important roles in both of the texts. Throughout Sir Gawain and The Green Knight there are several important females present. The women being Guinevere for a short period of time, Lady Bertilak, and Morgan Le Fay. Guinevere is presented at the beginning of the text before The Green Knight barges into the castle, and is presented as the standard of beauty.

Read More
206 Words | 1 Pages

Her actions do not fit the model visions a husband would have of a wife in the medieval times. In addition to the emotional and sexual abuse, the Wife of Bath sought

Read More
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
783 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer illustrates to the reader the true characteristics of the Miller and the Reeve by using the aspect of morality to show their related views on love and women. Love, to both the Miller and the Reeve, is frequently associated with beauty, lust, and sexual intercourse. Their vision of love is consistent in both stories; indicating that they care mostly about the women’s physical appearances. This can be easily seen in the stories by the way that the women are described and portrayed. Neither of Chaucer’s story tellers offer much insight into the women’s intelligence or mental characteristics.

Read More
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
694 Words | 3 Pages

In the tale, one of the characters in Chaucer’s story, the Wife of Bath, has sparked a debate among people about whether Chaucer addresses modern ideas about women or if he enforces gender stereotypes. However, Chaucer’s characterization of the Wife of Bath proves that he enforces gender stereotypes.

Read More
554 Words | 3 Pages

Living in a world where people are selfish and greedy can lead to trouble. In this story The Wife of Bath, a young man took advantage of a girl and raped her just so he can fulfill his needs as a man. Not knowing that she was a virgin (or did), had ruined the future that was set for her. She now can no longer marry a knight or someone in nobility. The outcome of this story would surely cause an uproar with modern day feminists; for he got rewarded a beautiful wife even though he raped a young woman.

Read More
1060 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout her introduction of the tale, and the story itself, we see the Wife of Bath as an experienced, intellectual woman, who despite living in a world of patriarchal power, provides for herself financially, emotionally, and physically. As a feminist icon, she confronts serious social issues that illustrate the subjugation women faced. During her prologue and her tale, it is very clear that the Wife of Bath is proud and not ashamed of her sexuality. She views sex as a good ideal, and argues it, using references from the Bible, that God’s intentions

Read More
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
1470 Words | 6 Pages

According to a study performed by the United Nations (Fulu), 70 percent of men who have sexually assaulted somebody do so because they believe that they are sexually entitled. Forty percent of those men who admitted to sexually assaulting a woman stated that they were “angry” or wanted to “punish” the victim. In this study consisting of 10,000 men from varying countries, half of them do not feel guilty. 5,000 men do not feel guilty for sexually assaulting women. 5,000 men that each felt entitled to a woman’s body and violated her privacy.

Read More

More about Rhetoric Of Rape

Related Topics

Open Document