While on a pilgrimage, the Wife of Bath along with many others shared stories and tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales. The pilgrims each told a tale so they had fun on their trip and did not sit around and do nothing the whole way. The Wife of Bath told the sixth tale. In The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath shows characteristics of a fraud. The Wife of Bath manipulated all of her husbands, shows arrogance and selfishness, and had many improper actions and was sexually immoral.
Stereotypes of Women in The Canterbury Tales Stereotypes of women have not changed throughout the years of history. Throughout the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer portrays women through negative stereotypes. Women are portrayed as selfish, lustful and immoral. In the Wife of Bath’s Prologue women are portrayed as selfish.
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).
The Wife of Bath’s behaviors are questionable but are inherently aided by the social injustices that face women of this time period. The Wife of Bath discloses that for her first three marriages she sought out older wealthy men for sex and money. Her intentions included making her husbands fall in love with her and then making them have enormous amounts of sex until they die. In addition, the wife elaborates on her occasional tumultuous tirades of accusing her husbands of being unfaithful to her. Her uproars chided her husbands into persistently obliging into her every request.
Throughout the Canterbury Tales, by Jeffrey Chaucer, many characters have been satirized to point out the issues of everyday society, and it is evident that the tales are able to connect with not only the past but the present as well. Furthermore, Chaucer utilizes the tales as a tool to fully characterize and detail the characters of the novel. In the Wife of Bath’s prologue, it is evident that Dame Allison is an individual who is portrayed as a negative character by Chaucer as she is revealed as someone who dominates men to obtain whatever she desires. Thus, the tale she recites is perfectly suited for her because it perfectly illustrates how women have power over their husbands and are able to achieve sovereignty over them. This relates
In The Canterbury Tales, a set of short stories by Geoffrey Chaucer, 29 pilgrims tell stories about their life in order to keep each other entertained on their pilgrimage to Canterbury. One of the pilgrims, Alice, also known as Wife of Bath, particularly stands out. She tells her story of her five husbands, and explains to the readers her ideas of women. These ideas include that women are morally weaker than men, something that she “fixes” by gaining power in unusual ways, such as lying to them or withholding sex. She also gains control over them by always telling them they are in the wrong, something that she considers power because they then believe her and consider her better than them.
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.
American writer Brandon Sanderson once said, “The purpose of storytelling is not to tell you what or how to think, but to give you questions to think about.” The purpose of stories is to entertain readers, communicate, teach, and raise questions. Additionally, stories would not be complete without characters who provide the audience with new questions and perspectives. Numerous stories, such as The Wife of Bath’s Tale, written by Geoffery Chaucer, have characters that provide readers with new ideas, opinions, and perspectives on societal aspects and gender norms. Moreover, The Wife of Bath’s Tale is a story about a knight who is accused of rape and must discover what women desire within one year to save his life.
Many female critics have looked towards The Wife of Bath as a feminist role model (Reisman) She wanted authority over her five husbands, “She’d been respectable throughout her life, with five churched husbands bringing joy and strife, Not counting other company in her youth;” (Chaucer, l. 459-461) In Othello, the society centered around the men having all the control over women except in their beds, which was when the women could take control. Othello uses his power to over Desdemona to mock her,“Ay, you did wish that I would make her turn. Sir, she can turn, and turn, and get go on, And turn again.
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 fact is that during the Middle Ages, Women were seeking social equality with men. Since women lived in a patriarchal society whose roles were to obtain absolute control over women, they had to slowly strike with the problematic of gender roles. Comportment books convey females as obedient individuals that were in
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 Canterbury tales, the Wife of Bath represented the extravagant and lusty woman. She was not represented the admirable and devoted follower of the church, like the Prioress was. The Wife of Bath represents the "liberal" extreme in regards to female stereotypes of the middle Ages. Unlike most women being ignored during the middle Ages, she has a mind of her own. She voices herself.
The Wife of Bath states, “You have two choices; which one will you try? To have me old and ugly till I die, but still a loyal, and humble wife that never will displease you all her life, or would you rather I were young and pretty and chance your arm what happens in a city where friends will visit you because of me, yes, and in other places too, maybe. Which would you rather have? The choice is all your own” (395-403).
This shows her eagerness to go against the society, but she cannot go against the society because after all, she is a female living in the dark ages. She views men as feeble and weak, but she still wants them in her life. Chaucer wants to represent that no matter how much a woman is powerful and dominating, but it is still the man that grants her the power and decides her
