ipl-logo

Chaucer's Perspective On The Wife Of Bath

570 Words3 Pages

Chaucer paints a very negative perspective of the Wife of Bath. Some biographers take this depiction to represent Chaucer’s personal beliefs toward women in general. It could be argued that Chaucer was simply creating a rich character for his poetry. The details of the Wife of Bath on the way to Canterbury describes a woman that was verbal about her many husbands. “I will tell truth of husbands that I’ve had, For three of them were good and two were bad, The three were good men and were rich and old;” (Wheeler et. al, 351). This description portrays the Wife of Bath as someone who is interested in money rather than in her dedication to her husband. She also blames deafness on her husband, rather than taking responsibility for her behavior. This is seen in “By God, he smote me on the ear, one day, Because I tore out of his book a leaf, So that from this my ear is grown quite deaf, Stubborn I was as is a lioness;” (Wheeler et. al, 361) The example of the Wife of Bath illustrates Chaucer’s ability to create depth of character in very few words. Unfortunately, Chaucer did not complete The Canterbury Tales. If he had completed these stories, it would have totaled one hundred twenty tales (Wheeler et. al, 321). …show more content…

These included The Book of the Duchess, Triolus and Criseyde, and The Legend of the Good Women (Wheeler et. al, 320). The Book of the Duchess was considered the turning point in Chaucer’s life (“Geoffrey Chaucer, 1998). It was during this time that he met his wife and was elevated in his social status. Troilus and Criseyde is Chaucer’s tragedy, where a young prince fails to obey his obligations, falls in love with the wrong woman, and dies alone and miserable on the battlefield (“Geoffrey Chaucer”, 1998). The Legend of the Good Women was written for Queen Anne along with other short poems for special occasions (Wheeler et. al,

Show More
Related
249 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
283 Words | 2 Pages

As the movie is a representation of the lives of the immigrant population, I believe that it delineates the struggles of the undocumented in terms of their economic and social positions, particularly, in the aspect of finance, income, and occupation. For instance, the group encountered troubles in creating their desired model since they lack the means in purchasing the essential materials. At which point, Oscar Vasquez, a member of the group, used his US military uniform to acquire financial aid from store owners. Moreover, the undocumented Lorenzo Santillan, had to work as a mechanic in order to provide the necessities that he and his family needs. In my perspective, the film characterized imperative issues regarding the lack of financial

Read More
1160 Words | 5 Pages

Austin Jolley English 110 8-10 AM Analytical Essay Wife of Bath Throughout the stories of Wife of Bath and in the prologue she touches on main points for how a female should be and act. As she is talking about her life, she was wed to five different men and was the example of what you don’t want to be. For example, she was going through and saying how she was only wed to the first 4 for money, power, and greed. But the fifth one was for the love of the man.

Read More
1335 Words | 6 Pages

Wife of Bath’s tale is about a knight who is sent out to find out what women most desire. During his travels, he comes across a woman who gives him the correct answer of sovereignty. The queen accepts his answer but also makes the knight marry the women who gave him the answer, that night the knight can’t sleep because the lack of beauty from his new wife is unsettling to him, so she gives him two choices beauty, or loyalty. The knight then has to think over what is important to him. Chaucer then use this point in the story to really grab reader’s attention by his use of diction in the tale.

Read More
206 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
945 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
661 Words | 3 Pages

The Wife of Bath’s Tale is from the Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer, it is a tale about the battle of the sexes. The narrator is a woman who has “been an expert as wife” who has a tale “of the tribulation in the married life” (Chaucer 155). The Wife of Bath conveys the theme of power in which humans desire to hold over one another. This theme is shown throughout the tale as characters exhibit control over others, recurring images of power over the knight and ideas illustrated by the narrator.

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
254 Words | 2 Pages

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).

Read More
1666 Words | 7 Pages

Several of the characters described in this work are women. Some of these women are rebellious and seek for sovereignty over their lives. Through his description of the Wife in The General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, as well as the “Knight’s Tale” and the “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” Chaucer suggests that, although many

Read More
500 Words | 2 Pages

“The Canterbury Tales,” written by Geoffrey Chaucer, was a revolutionary work written in the early 14th Century that uses poetic views and writings of the recent past in order to dwell upon medieval society and to incorporate a variety of values toward average life around the time it was made. The tale reflects the ways in which societies roles were changing within the elite. Chaucer exhibits in each story what is right and wrong and how one should live through the errors of both men and women. However, the hidden message within the sub context of the tales is how medieval men looked down upon women and how this affected their role in society. Women during the 14th century were required to be obedient to man and were to only be seen and

Read More
1047 Words | 5 Pages

The Wife of Bath is displayed as strong, independent, and unconcerned with any social standards she may or may not be held to. When explaining the Wife of Bath Chaucer details,“Bold was her face, and handsome; florid too. She had been respectable all her life, And five times married, that’s to say in church, Not counting other loves she’d had in youth”(Chaucer 14). Multiple clothing items add onto her attitude of self-determination and power, as she is described as wearing a hat that resembled a shield, and sharp spurs on her feet (Chaucer 15). With the Wife of Bath being described as a mistress with multiple husbands, one would expect her to be characterized as a scheming harlot that men should be wary of (as was common in medieval misogynist tales).

Read More
1052 Words | 5 Pages

The Wife of Bath: An Analysis of Her Life and Her Tale The Wife of Bath’s Prologue stays consistent with the facts that experience is better than the societal norms, specifically those instilled by the church leadership. Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath to display the insanity of the church, but through switching and amplifying their view of men and chastity onto the opposite gender. The church doctrine at the time held celibacy in an idolized manner, forgetting the inability for humans to ever reach perfection, or live up to this standard. They also did not hold women in a high regard at all, again this is where Chaucer flips the role, as the Wife of Bath describes her five marriages in her prologue, essentially describing each as a conquest, where the result is her having all control.

Read More
910 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
608 Words | 3 Pages

The Canterbury Tales is a series of stories told from the view of different characters. Chaucer uses irony to describe how characters from different social rankings are not defined by their positions and jobs but by their hearts. In the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” the Wife does not let the label of “wife” guide her actions. During this time, wives were inferior to their husbands and tended to stay home because they were dependent on others.

Read More

More about Chaucer's Perspective On The Wife Of Bath

Related Topics

Open Document