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The Importance Of Power In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

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“This act of violence made such a stir, so much petitioning to the king for her,..” (65-66). Within every relationship the scale of power tends to fluctuate between the man and woman, this however gradually comes to a draw over time. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, suggests one’s gender determines how much power one will receive. However, just because one receives such power does not mean it must be used. At the beginning of the story the Knight is lost to the idea of men and women being on equal ground, which is shown by his treatment towards the maiden. The King demonstrates his understanding of the balance of power between him and his Queen by letting her have control over the Knight’s fate. Towards the end of the story through his punishment set forth by the Queen, the Knight comes to realize the importance of the power of equality.
During Arthurian times Knight’s lived by a code of chivalry, where they were expected to honor women and stand up for the weak. However, this “Lusty Liver” (59) lived by his own code and …show more content…

Nevertheless, the Knight, the Queen, The King, and the old woman all wanted to receive the same thing, which in the tale not everyone receives the amount of power they want. The Knight was able to become powerful only to lose his power to the Queen. The King is powerless towards the Queen and the Knight, which means he cannot make decisions. Subsequently the Knight was punished, the old woman and the Knight eventually had equal power. Chaucer comments imply that men should be on equal ground with women by respecting and honoring them. If everyone is respectful then being powerful should not matter because everyone will be equal. Men can do what women can do and women can do what men can do, so why is there a problem with power? Simply because one must think they have to rule over one another, being respectful potentially could help you to receive some

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