Wife Of Bath's Tale: Women In The Middle Ages

If women wanted to do anything other than care for the household, they would be looked down upon and titled as an unfit mother or wife. The Canterbury Tales displayed women as an ideology that women could not hold power and that beauty could be obtained by altering their appearance for women to become attributes for men. In this society, Chaucer is sympathetic to women while also realizing that men own women. The Wife of Bath went through five husbands, each giving her just what she wanted. All of her marriages taught her something different, either you get love or your give love.

In a sense, I believe her main theme is valid being what women most desire. Due to the constant oppression of women by their partners, many people, in addition to the Wife of Bath, believe sovereignty over their spouse is the perfect resolution to their complications. However, marriage is mostly about teamwork and support as the two people journey on through life. In the present day, it seems that we have made impressive progress as strong partnerships are much more prominent in marriages compared to the time period of the Canterbury

After having five husbands, the Wife of Bath establishes herself as an expert on marriage. She wholeheartedly indulges herself in God’s commandment to “increase and multiply” (l. 28). The Wife of Bath, although receiving criticism for her lusty life, always defends her life choices. First, she defends her lifestyle by referring to reputable men in the Old Testament who had more than one wife. Second, she considers sexual organs to satisfy both practical and pleasurable uses in life.

The roles and expectations of women were based on the perception that women were inferior to men. Frist, there were numerous tasks and roles for women in the 17th century. Women were to obey and serve their husbands which included tending to their children, maintaining the household, and other chores around the house. Governor John Winthrop stated, “A ‘true wife’ would find contentment only in subjection to her husband’s authority.” (George Brown Tindall, 110) The modal woman at this time was one who would silently do as she was told by her husband. However, there were other roles for women.

Throughout the novel, Kempe depicts Jesus as handsome and stunning. She is often times taken aback by his beauty however, she grows accustom to it. Kempe then dedicates her life to Jesus. “And then the Father took her by the hand in her soul, before the Son and Holy Ghost, and the Mother of Jesus , and all the twelve apostles, and St. Katherine and St. Margaret and many other saints and holy virgins, with a great multitude of angels, saying to her soul, “i take you, Kempe, for my wedded wife.”(NA 431) Kempe, while viewed as an unhinged woman through the lens of society, just has a very strong desire for Jesus. This desire then leads her to become a devout Christian.

In the Victorian era, gender inequality was daily life. Men were most often the dominant power in a relationship whereas women were expected to be pure and innocent. In an era of arranged marriages, women belonged to their husbands and were attached to their households. However, Wilde has questioned these gender roles and created rather independent and powerful female characters in the play. Though Lady Bracknell and Jack have to give their consent as an approval of marriage to their wards, Gwendolen and Cecily, women show dominance over men in each relationship.

Midwifery In The Middle Ages One of the most important jobs to the women of the Middle Ages is often left forgotten and unmentioned. Without these people, there would not have been enough people to populate the villages and castles of Medieval times, or even enough to build such structures. Without someone ensuring that most births are successful, the population would not have been big enough for society to develop manorialism, or enough citizens become knights, or to fight in the Crusades, or to form guilds and towns, or even enough people to consider the Middle Ages a significant part of history, Midwives were an essential part of Medieval society, in many ways. A midwife is a person who assists a woman in childbirth, who, in the

For most of history, we have lived in a patriarchal society, where men have been the rulers and the leaders. Women in general have always been second in society, especially women of color. During the colonization area, women were going to the new homeland to start a new life for them and their families. The gender norms of the time were to be the husband was the bread winner and went out and the women stayed home and took care of the children. Throughout this colonization time, certain women were challenging their status quo and paving the way for more women to have more rights in society.

Although there is almost no chance for her to ever see either of them again, she still tries to preseve the relationship. She is used by Commander for sex and companionship and had an affair with Nick (higher preganancy chance). Most of her actions are being forced “Which of us is it worse for, her or me?”(151) meant the sex between the narrator and commander is unbearable to the point of watching your husband having sex with another women right infront of you. Her only defiance done totally by herself is “I will use the butter later that night.” (113), everything else including escaping the Gilead, having an affair with Commander, having an affair with Nick and leaving the Commanders house are all stimulated by others. Offred represent those who does not stand against oppresion, being pushed around and used for sex.

Hutchinson are the meetings held in her home. The issue is that there are men and women attending these meetings. A women teaching men is simply unheard off and is disgraceful regarding her sex. Does she not know what the bible says? She claims that she does, so she should understand quite well what her place is.