Stereotypes Of Women In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

Chaucer Refutes Chaucer presents women in a light different to the long tradition of anti-feminist literature. In The wife of Bath’s tale, he presents women as grace givers; When the queen chose to show mercy rather than showing the knight to his death. Chaucer’s

The Canterbury tales is written by Geoffrey Chaucer takes place in the late 14 hundreds . Chaucer and 30 pilgrims are traveling to Canterbury, and to pass time each pilgrim tells a tale about their life. These tales are told through Chaucer's point of view, where he uses his humor to attract the reader in many different ways. Chaucer’s humor consist of three main attributes , sarcasm, sexism, and appearance.

The portrayal of women in literature over the years has often times denoted roles and capabilities through society. Unlike most, Geoffrey Chaucer has been credited to writing various works exemplifying women by showing their equal powers and potentials. Through what ways does Chaucer depict The Wife of Bath to be a stronghold in society within the Canterbury Tales?

The women in Othello and Chaucer's Wife of Bath differ, but in the end both want their husbands to love them.

In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” the knight’s punishment for raping a girl is to set out on a year long journey to find out what women desire most. This story is sexist portraying women in a negative light.

“This act of violence made such a stir, so much petitioning to the king for her,..” (65-66). Now and then, women possess more power than men and men possess more power than women. However, in time their power gradually comes to a draw. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer comments suggest that based on your gender, it determines on how much power you will receive. Chaucer implies that men should be on equal ground with women by showing the Knight when he had more power than women, when the King had no control over the Knight’s punishment, and when the Knight acknowledges that he should honor women/old women.

Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet during the middle ages, wrote The Canterbury Tale’s Wife of Bath; he was born from a humble middle-class family and climbed his way up through the aristocracy. The Wife of Bath main protagonist is molded by a sexist culture of her times. My goal with this paper is to shed light on The Wife of Bath’s main character. A story of a smart, strong-willed woman who manipulates her way to financial and personal independence, is she a feminist or a smart and scheming woman?

Gender role refers to those behaviors and attitudes that are considered to belong to one sex. Gender role is based on femininity and masculinity that differentiate women and men by giving men some roles and women which results to gender inequality. There some work in society that is regarded to belong to women such as cooking, taking care of children and other less important roles while men are given roles that makes them superior than women. Most of the gender roles associated with women makes them inferior and creates a room to be oppressed. Gender roles are constructed by society and attributed to women or men. In the book of vindication of the right of a woman, Wollstonecraft brings out clearly the roles of a woman in her society and how it has led to oppression of women (Wollstonecraft 22). Wollstonecraft believes that men and women are equal given the same environment and empowerment, women can do anything a man can do. In her society, education for women is only aimed at making her look pleasing to men. Women are treated as inferior being and used by men as sex objects. Wollstonecraft believed that the quality of mind of women is the same with that of men, and therefore women should not be denied a chance for formal education that will empower them to be equal with men.

A character that stood out and did not care on how she was looked at was The Wife of Bath. The wife had to be one of the first outspoken and independent women of their times, she was the one who would represented the women of her time and her character change the world of literature for women. This tells us a lot about the roles men and women had to be in. The wife of Bath and Alison from “The Miller’s Tale” were simply women who acted in a way that was not acceptable, but if it was men doing it the same it would be okay, somewhat like today’s society.

During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church had a great amount of power because it was the only one at the time. As expressed in The Canterbury Tales, it even oversaw the court, so one could propose that the Church had exponential power. They seemed to rule the economy and hold a lot of land. Kings and queens were even preceded by the Church. Supposedly, in those times, the Catholic Church was a source of great hypocrisy or a good number of its people were. In The Canterbury Tales, readers met so many religious figures who amount to a pure source of hypocrisy and contradiction such as the Friar, the Pardoner, the Nun, and more. Geoffrey Chaucer, the author, brought a delightful dose of sarcasm in various descriptions of the religious characters

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. Sir Gawain encounters lady Bertilak as he nears the green chapel. Lady Bertilak takes advantage of her beauty while Gawain stays in her and her husband’s, lord Bertilak, castle. While staying in the castle, Sir Gawain is presented a

Most women during the early middle ages were not treated properly. They were treated as housekeepers ready to serve every single one of their husband’s needs. According to society women who were not submissive to their husband where all evil. These ideas influenced many of the stories written during the early middle ages; stories such as, Beowulf, Marie de France’s Lanval, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wife of Bath. In all of these stories women were given a negative image because of the standards set for women by society.

The stereotypes applied to nineteenth century women were not just stereotypes, they were realities. Women were expected to stay home and do all the cooking and cleaning for their family. They were entirely dependent on their male counterparts for all their tasks outside the domestic sphere. They were generally considered unintellectual and uneducated. Women were generally suppressed in early society. Nineteenth century Romantic writer Nathaniel Hawthorne saw these stereotypical gender roles beginning to shift. He uses his novel, The Scarlet Letter, to portray his idea of changing gender roles. The female protagonist of the novel, Hester Prynne, possesses many traits and engages in many activities that would conflict with the gender stereotypes

Gender Roles: Interpreting The Opposite Sex In today’s society men and women are often expected to perform different tasks, and occupy different roles based on their sex. Within different cultures, the view of how women and men should act and interact varies with political and religious influences, as well as personal influences. Geoffrey Chaucer suggests that people’s ability to understand the opposite sex is divided because of the stereotypes set in society for the opposite genders. Women are more likely to work as secretaries, and men are likely expected to work as managers and executives in the working field.

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.