In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales there are many different types of personalities, all of the personalities symbolize something different in all. That story it self explains what a knight in the 14th century was supposed to look like and what they were supposed to symbolize. One of the most intricate Prologues in The Canterbury Tales is The Wife of Bath, for the reason being that the Wife seems as a prostitute. She admits to not only having five husbands, but to the fact she married them all for their money. Being that the Wife has 5 husbands she must really know what a woman has to do to get a man. But as you read farther into the Prologue it seems as if she gets beaten down more and more, and starts to loose sight on what she was really marrying all these men for. If the Wife has everything together …show more content…
She explains her theories, as well as tells us that the thing women most desire is control, complete control. In the Prologue she tells how she got the upper hand with each of her husbands. The wife had a lot of knowledge about the Bible, in her favor of course, but she would be able to defend herself in the sense saying sex and having five husbands not necessarily considered a sin. By the end of the prologue, the Wife does admit that the sexual organs that God gave are for pleasure and procreation.
In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales the Wife explains to us about what women want, they have the need to feel in control. Women also need to feel the power of money. Although to me it is, I feel being faithful is that of a strong hold. If you truly care about someone, and you care enough to fall in love and share vows, promising love to one another, that should be your only one. She admits to finding joy in sex and control and is not ashamed of admitting any of it. So we go back to the question of what do women want? I don’t think anyone will really truly understand what a woman
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.
The Good Wife was well known for the unending cycle of lust and passion among multiple men. “About her broad hips was a short riding skirt…Love and its remedies she knew all about,… for she had been through the old dance” (The Prologue, 4). The Good Wife had been on many pilgrimages in Rome and Boulogne, which did not alter the desire for men that dwelled inside. Religion is specific that a woman shall only have one husband unless the wife is widowed, only that way can the wife remarry. The Good Wife fornicated consciously knowing that it was against religion’s rules.
Through the structure of her speech, Chaucer characterizes the Wife of Bath as loquacious. Because she goes on many tangents during her dialogue, it is apparent that the Wife of Bath is a character that loves to talk. For instance, when she is telling her tale and digresses to talk about Ovid, she says, “If you wish to hear the rest of the tale, [...] When this knight whom this tale specially concerns.” (Wife of Bath Tale 126-127).
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
What women long for but rarely have in their marriages is reflected quite exceptionally in her tale. In the beginning of the tale, the Wife of Bath clearly portrays how men behaved towards women in her day and age. Full of lust, the character of the King’s knight “by very force he took her maidenhead,” (line 64). This development of the tale might even expose something about the wife herself, possibly that one of her husbands was forceful or controlling concerning their marriage.
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 announced she had been married five times and she thinks she knows everything there is to know about marriage. The wife explained how she was able to gain the upper hand (“sovereignty”) over these men. She is a strong willed and dominant women who gets what she wants and whenever she wants it. She thinks she should not be controlled or told what to do by anyone not even her husband. She believe everyone should bow down
I think it depicts how life was, and how it is now, in the perspective of how hierarchal relationships work and how they came to be. Although some hierarchal relationships, such as the relationship between husband and wife, eventually promoted more bad relationships that were unintended. The other relationships from the guide still hold true for todays modern society even though it was written long ago. Although I disagreed with the text upon initial reading, after analyzing I believe that The Good Wife’s Guide accurately depicts societal hierarchy for the time it was written as well as todays societal
The Wife of Bath is a very outgoing young woman who is seated next to the Nun and the Cook in order to cause a ruckus during dinner. Considering the Wife of Bath is very dramatic and high-maintenance, she is appalled to find out that she is sitting next to the bold Cook who does not mind to cover his large sore on his leg. He was also part of the hardworking middle class which the Wife of Bath found completely insulting to be sitting next to her since she was so selfish and only cared about her appearance. To her right was the Nun who was almost as materialistic as herself. They would get along just fine and could have a easy conversion, however, they would strive to be better than the other.
Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the best poet in England and his eminence were highly- regarded. In his poem “Wife of Bath”, he consolidated several innovative ideas about genders. His belief of equality between men and women, idea that sovereignty of women were fine by men, and the great academic level of Wife of Bath shown that Chaucer is a feminist. Back in Europe, 1300s, women had a very different social status from now. Women were believed to be set as quiet, home staying figure.
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
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
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).
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.
Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the best writers of the earlier centuries and is right up there with Shakespeare, his Canterbury tales is one of his greatest works ever and the stories told in it are very innovative for his time. The one story I really enjoyed more was the wife of bath, the way she is a self-proclaimed authority of marriage since she has married more than once. She reminded me of the show “The real house wives of Orange County” and how the wife of bath has the same habits of marrying rich men but at the same time making claims about how marriage works. The real house wives are a modern counterpart to the wife of bath and I think if Chaucer was born in our own era he would have been very different and able to express some of his stories in a better or different way.