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The barriers faced by medieval women and the early modern period in literature
The barriers faced by medieval women and the early modern period in literature
Themes in Canterbury tales
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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.”
The escalating frequency of school shootings throughout the years has become an alarming issue, raising the question as to why one would commit such a horrific act. On December 14th, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother and soon after drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School where he proceeded to kill twenty first grade students and six school employees. Lanza, a troubled individual with a history of various mental health issues, including schizophrenia and Aspergers Syndrome, was profoundly engrossed with violent video games, firearms, and the narratives of mass shootings. Examining Adam Lanza’s violence through the perspective of James Gilligan's Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic, it becomes apparent
Geoffrey Chaucer, considered one of the greatest English poets in the Middle Ages, composed The Canterbury Tales in the late fourteenth century. In the novel twenty-nine men and women representing all aspects of Medieval society embark on a religious pilgrimage to the cathedral at Canterbury in southeast England. On their journey their host engages them in a storytelling contest with a free meal as the prize upon their return. Chaucer wrote the tales in Middle English, the vernacular of the Medieval period, making his work accessible to all classes of people.
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.
The Wife of Bath believed that women should take mastery over their men (Pg. 914). She had five husbands and thought she knew how to control men. She also believed that experience, not authority by gender, should be respected in society. She also believed that members of the church who could not marry or consummate, knew less of sex and therefore, not as experienced or educated on sexuality as she.
The Natural Road of Agreements Spiritual guide, Buddha Shakyamuni argues that “there are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting” (“Buddha Quote”). In order for an agreement to be made, a truth must be spoken. Agreements, certainly, don’t achieve totality until the road to truth goes all the way. If one party decides to omit the truth, the agreement will be dissolved. No matter the time period, this idea of truths and agreements has and will forever hold true.
What do women yearn for most? At times, most women cannot answer this ancient question. A substantial amount of women prefer money, never ending youth, to be wed, to be widowed, to be respected, or to be pampered; the list is infinite. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale, King Arthur’s knight rapes a young maiden; the punishment at this time was beheading. Yet, the King allowed the Queen to choose the consequences that the knight will suffer.
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).
In Chaucer's collection of stories known as "The Canterbury Tales," "The Miller's Tale" is a humorous story that subverts the standards of courtly love and passion. The concept of courtly love was prevalent in medieval literature. In courtly love, a noble lover would adore a lady from a distance and serve her, often at the expense of tremendous personal sacrifice. Chaucer uses this time-honored literary form in "The Miller's Tale," in which he lampoons the overdramatized feelings and behavior of people who are not in the least bit noble.
Geoffrey Chaucer has greatly influenced English literature with many of his works. He comprised more than twenty tales in his most famous collections The Canterbury Tales. There are several of his many tales that expresses love, marriage, and romanticism to display an important message. The Merchants Tale in particular refers marriage and love between the characters. First, the story introduces the narrator Chaucer, whom tells the story of a knight.
“Seeing is not always believing.” -Martin Luther King Jr. ("Seeing"). In life, what people see is not always what they get. Appearances can be deceiving and keeping up with expectations does not always occur.
Gender role refers to those behaviors and attitudes that are considered to belong to one sex. Gender role is based on femininity and masculinity that differentiate women and men by giving men some roles and women which results to gender inequality. There some work in society that is regarded to belong to women such as cooking, taking care of children and other less important roles while men are given roles that makes them superior than women. Most of the gender roles associated with women makes them inferior and creates a room to be oppressed. Gender roles are constructed by society and attributed to women or men.
Finally both texts will be compared to each other in how the representation of marriage differs. In the Franklin’s Tale the reader learns about Dorigen’s and Averagus’ marriage. It is indeed a marriage with trials for both of them as Arveragus leaves his wife alone to fight in England and Dorigen encounters Aurelius, who courts her while knowing she is married. In ‘”In
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.
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.
