Comparing The Wife Of Bath And Federigo's Falcon

“The Wife of Bath” and “Federigo's Falcon” were written during the Middle Ages in Europe, after the bubonic plague thrived. The defining factors of good character is a topic explored and discussed within both selections. The authors, Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio, reveal their ideologies behind what determines a person to have a strong moral character. Although their stories were written centuries ago, the ideas presented are still relevant to society today. While “Wife of Bath” highlights how one's outward externalities do not define a person, “Federigo's Falcon” discusses how one’s actions can define their civility, but both imply that one’s personality is solely defined by what they say and do, not who they are at face value. External

Since the knight had to succumb to marrying the old woman, the day of the wedding he “stayed hidden like an owl,/ It was such torture that his wife was foul” (Chaucer 226-228). The knight is poorly judging the old woman solely on her looks and age, entirely neglecting traits like personality, humor, and morality. By focusing on externalities, he is too ashamed to even be associated with her in public. Once the knight finally talks to the old woman, she mentions how although he stems “from some virtuous noble clan,/” he “do[es] not live... by gentle deed/” therefor he is “no gentleman, through duke or earl” (301-303). Even though the knight is of royal blood and descent, those alone are not enough to equate him as a gentleman. Chaucer is implying that an individual’s superficial attributes hold no intrinsic

As Federigo worries about what to feed Monna, “his gaze alight[s] [to] his precious falcon,” and the idea comes across him to serve that to her (Boccaccio 163). Federigo is extremely poor, his bird being “the only consolation, the only pleasure… in [his] present extremity of fortune” that he has left, yet within an instant he doesn’t hesitate to give it up for the satisfaction of Monna (163). The irony of Monna’s obliviousness to what she is ingesting infers that Federigo never wanted her to know that she was eating the falcon. He solely made the sacrifice of something he cherished for Monna’s pleasure, not for anything in return or attention. Due to his offering, Monna is motivated to marry Federigo because she “would sooner have a gentleman without riches than riches without a gentleman” (Boccaccio 165). Monna marries Federigo because he is truly chivalrous, even though he is in extreme poverty, she still would rather have him over a man who is physically and tangibly rich. Federigo’s actions were purely out of benevolence, because although Monna was the main cause of his destitute, he still did all in his power for her