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Gender Roles In The Wife Of Bath's Tale

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Recommended: The history of the portrayal of women in literature

The Presentation of Gender in the Wife of Bath as a Response to Medieval Misogyny

While the exploration of gender and power through literature was not new to Chaucer, the Canterbury Tales seemed to serve as a vessel for the cumulation of his unfinished ideas and storylines concerning women and the role that men play in their lives. The theme of gender and power is discernible throughout a suitable amount of the Canterbury Tales. Arguably, the story in which this theme is presented in the most impactful way is the Wife of Bath’s Tale. Chaucer exhibits a rebuttal of medieval misogyny through the Wife of Bath’s Tale, championing the Wife of Bath as an icon of female independence. This is presented through the language used to describe the Wife …show more content…

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). On the contrary, she was seen in a positive light along with her traits of independence. The introduction of a well-received, bold female character among the company of predominantly men foreshadows the tale that she will eventually …show more content…

For example, the story begins with a rape. Another difference, women hold the most agency throughout the story. The queen is given the fate of King Arthur’s knight, the “old hag” saves the knight by her own accord, and in the end holds mastery over her husband. This differs from what I would expect to see in a 14th century romance tale about a knight. While the King does turn the knight over to the queen (showing that there is still a power imbalance between men and women), the knight is judged by the queen and a court filled with noble ladies, maidens, and widows. He is given another chance at life by the queen, and his life is secured from the knowledge he received from the woman sitting on the green. Without the women in the story, he would be dead. “Had not the queen and many another lady importuned the king so long for mercy that in the end he granted him his life and gave him to the queen to dispose of” (172). During the first class discussion of the Canterbury Tales, there seemed to be some unsureness about whether the story was about female independence. Some believed that because the old hag turned into a beautiful woman at the end, consequently rewarding the rapist, that there was an ulterior motive. Personally, I find the conclusion to be evidence of the feminine bias present in the

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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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“A patriarchal society consists of a male-dominated power structure throughout organized society and in individual relationships” (Napikoski). Yet, Chaucer discusses and talks about The Wife of Bath as someone who is powerful, even more powerful than her spouses. He does this through describing her attire, some of which was red which symbolized wealth and also through the statement that she has been married five times. “Hir hosen weren of fin scarlet reed,/ Ful straite yteyd, and shoes ful moiste and

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Through this character Chaucer also implies that rich intelligent people are apt to sin through the use of deceit in order to fulfill their desires. The Wife of Bath’s Tale Prologue focuses on Alison, a lustful woman who desires control over her lovers. She is powerful and vital, having gone through five husbands. Alison is a symbol of opposition to authority because she interprets the Bible in her own way, which is that women can and should be allowed to marry more than once. The Wife of Bath preaches dominance over men in a relationship, and advises women to make the most of marriage “debts”.

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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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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.

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