Diversity In The Wife Of Bath's Tale

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Charlie White Ms. Washington English II: British Lit. The Canterbury Tales, written by Geofrey Chaucer tells the story of a pilgrimage that begins around springtime in the late fourteenth century. The pilgrimage started in London and ended in Canterbury, England. Each pilgrim recites a tale to pass the time, each one different in its storytelling, themes, and symbolism. One of Chaucer’s Tales called the Wife of Bath displays remarkable diversity in the genre such as showing the social norms, sex, and money. The underlying theme of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is that women should be allowed to decide for themselves. Furthermore, men are better off allowing women to make this decision. The main character of the Tale “the Wife” or Allusion is a beautiful, intelligent, and young woman that attempts to justify her being remarried five times all of which for different reasons. …show more content…

She applies her knowledge of the bible to her argument with the clerks. In fact, she uses other quotes from the bible in her arguments, although she does take them out of context. In her argument she uses exemplifies her idea by paraphrasing an idea of scripture from the bible “beside a well, Jesus, God and man, Spoke in reproof of the Samaritan thou hast had five husbands,' he said,” (Chaucer 15). She once again refers to the bible when trying to argue that her lifestyle is superior. Eventually, she moves away from the religious aspect of her argument and starts to touch upon natural philosophies. She uses logic to start building her arguments by first starting off with a simple, generic point, but then she continues to support it with hard facts. She argues that if it weren’t for sex, how could virgins be created? It seems like a simple argument, but it is also very hard to argue