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How Much Power In The Canterbury Tales

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How corrupt can the Catholic Church be? What are they trying to hide? These are just some of the questions Geoffrey Chaucer undoubtedly asked himself while writing The Canterbury Tales. Unphased by the option of the Catholic Church he set about to write a story in which voiced his stance on the church. The Canterbury Tales begins as a group of pilgrims decide to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. On this pilgrimage are numerous members of the Catholic Church. As a group, the pilgrimage decides to hold a competition to help pass the time.
The rules of the competition were simple, each pilgrim will tell two stories on the way and another two on the way back. The winner of this competition would receive a meal paid for …show more content…

She was way ahead of her time with her ideas about women's rights. This is demonstrated numerous times in her tale. For example, when King Arthur let his Wife Guinevere decide the fate of the Knight she has power over him. Once again the same circumstances appear when the Knight allows his new wife to make his choice for him. The moral lesson of this tale is that woman can deserve dominance over men and it’s in the best interest of men. Today many women can relate to this moral lesson because we still fight for equal treatment. Men are still earning more than woman. When the women were in charge in the story, good things soon followed. The Knight kept his life and lived happily ever after. The Wife of Bath was able to produce a better tale in which included a better moral story.
In conclusion the Wife of Bath told a tale with a better storyline and moral lesson. By examining the Wife of Bath’s tale it's clear she had a much better story than the Pardoner. By utilizing the mystical power of fairies and giving the Knight a happy ending. She leaves the reader surprised and wanting read more. By using examples throughout her tale the Wife of Bath enforced her moral, woman deserve dominance over men and it’s in their best interest to listen. The Wife of Bath kept her tale interesting, keeping the reader’s attention. She supported her moral message with examples that can be related to today’s world. For those reasons she definitely had the better

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[attention getter]. Geoffrey Chaucer, in his novel The Canterbury Tales, deals with many tales of medieval life and morals. The writing follows a large group of pilgrims who have all been challenged to tell their best tale, one that teaches a valuable lesson, on the journey to Canterbury. Two of the stories told, “The Pardoner’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, make their points in very notable ways. The Pardoner tells a story of three men who come to pay for indulging in the sin of greed, while the Wife of Bath recounts a story of questionable morality involving a knight struggling for redemption after breaking his code of honor.

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