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Analysis Of Geoffrey Chaucer's Poem 'Wife Of Bath'

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Recommended: Presentation of women in medieval literature

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. Their views were often ignored and nobody cares about the feeling of women. Geoffrey Chaucer, contradictory to the mobs, wrote the poem “Wife of Bath”, which described women as an equal being to men. The wife of Bath was given the characteristics of outspoken, strong, confident, and educated. These idiosyncrasies were not common for …show more content…

The exoscopic nature contributes to the built of an offensive character, which was served as an impulse to the accordant belief of female. To go beyond that, in the movie “Dead Poet Society”, MR. Keating said great poets know the danger of conformity. This is why Chaucer was so brave to show an uncommon belief. Chaucer knows that to be a great poet, he has to pursue what he really believes in, which is the natural equality between men and women. One of the main them of the poem which made it such a daring poem is sovereignty of women was fine by men. This proposed that men have a natural indisposition about decision making. Consider about the age when the poem is written, which is the 1300s, men were the one who has complete authority, absolute power. The most respected figure of a country is always the kings, the generals, or the high priests (clergy). Chaucer, under this background, argues that women want and

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Gloria Steinem once stated, “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” This quote is saying that women don’t need men, but the world has made the impression that they do. In the Wife of Bath’s Tale, women desire power over their husbands. In Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale, in lines 214 and 215, it states, “A woman wants the self-same sovereignty Over her husband as over her lover, And master him; he must not be above her.”

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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.

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In The Wife of Bath’s Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer uses the tale as a fable to reveal the human nature of shallowness by its plot and characters. The story begins from the ancient days of King Arthur, when the “hero” of the story condemned sexual assault, but then was saved by an ugly woman. Chaucer created characters that are lusty, greedy, materially desires, and amazingly shallow in order to compare and comment on the lifestyle of the higher classes at the time. From the start of the story, Geoffrey Chaucer illustrated how foolishly shallows the young Knight is in comparison to the upper classman.

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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.

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After World War 2 the social climate in the United States changed in many ways. Two different things were happening at that time. The United States was scared of an invasion by the Soviet Union. Precautions such as Bomb shelters and Duck and Cover Drills were practiced in schools and work places. Even though the United States lived in fear, the economy of the country was becoming stronger.

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In his work, The General Prologue and The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Wife of Bath is utilized to defy a patriarchal society and ownership, but still reinforces the idea of the male’s reduction to body/appearance in women. When looking at these attributes through a Feminist Theory Lens, there is a lot of material to be interpreted and distinguished. Chaucer’s work was believed to be written in 1386, a time where the world fell into a large patriarchal society. Men were believed to be in control and women were simply seen as subordinates.

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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).

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Asking nature to change is insane and seen as atheism. People who go against the patriarchy are seen as dangerous to civilization. Chaucer doesn’t agree with the patriarchy and thinks that women should be treated equal to a man. This is seen in, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue when Chaucer talks about love being mutual respect. He says the ideal marriage is when the patriarchy is flattened.

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“Come on, come on! You are pictures out of door, bells in your parlors, wildcats in your kitchens, saints in your injuries, devils being fended, players in your huswifery, and huswives in your beds.” (l.122-125. 2.1) Iago states that women only have two jobs- take care of the home, and give pleasure to their husbands in their beds. The Wife of Bath in Chaucer's, “The Canterbury Tales”, is a successful cloth maker, “At making cloth she had so great a bent she bettered those of Ypres and even of Gent.”

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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

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Chaucer also uses satire in a more comical way to illustrate how women can’t keep a secret. The Wife of Bath reveals this trait when she says “by heaven, we women can’t conceal a thing” (Chaucer 341), mocking the suggestion that women have an inability to keep a secret. Chaucer also makes fun of the knight’s condition using the irony of women being incapable of keeping a secret as the only thing that can save him. Mocking women and their incapability to not share private information only further reveals Chaucer’s satire.

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In the fourteen century, men were always the superior, head of the household, the breadwinner, but women were always inferior, they would stay at home, do the house work, cook, and never would have a job. Well, times have changed. Women are reaching an equal status to men in political, social and economic matters It’s part of the idea called Feminism. In many ways the Wife of Bath displays many characteristic of women in the 21st century. Instead of being directed by men, she views herself as an independent person.

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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.

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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.

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