ipl-logo

Power In The Wife Of Bath's Tale Essay

1699 Words7 Pages

The multiplicity of voices in The Canterbury Tales makes it difficult to impose a certain meaning on any individual voice or narrative, or to comment on authorial intent. Whilst we cannot pinpoint a solid ‘Chaucer-author’ voice, each of his pilgrim narrators have distinct styles and tones, holding vastly varying opinions, particularly in relation to gender and power. This is indeed the case with the Wife of Bath and the Clerk, whose narratives both address the power struggle between men and women. With examination of The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and The Clerk’s Tale, this essay will argue that power is a patriarchal possession, which manifests itself through the acts of gazing and glossing, and against which Alisoun and Griselda are contested.

The Wife of Bath is in direct discourse with the notion of medieval antifeminism, which was ‘undoubtedly one of the loudest voices amongst …show more content…

She applies this idea to the fact that ‘the determining male gaze projects its phantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly’, but not necessarily represent her accurately. Whoever holds the dominant position of power can represent the oppressed masses however they choose, regardless of the strength of the oppressed individual. Indeed, Alisoun makes this analogy not long after she says ‘stibourn I was as is a leonesse’ (l.637): powerful, but forced into subservience by (mis)representation in a society which privileges the male gaze. Further, though Alisoun’s voice challenges this double standard, we must not forget that she Chaucer’s creation. He is inscribing a female voice which critiques the very action of inscribing the female voice, making it necessarily and paradoxically inauthentic. Thus, it could be said that Chaucer acknowledged the unbalanced gender power structure of the literary and artistic

Show More
Related
508 Words | 3 Pages

Since the beginning of literature, women have been depicted as devious individuals. As a result, women put use to this stereotype to get what they want. This is proven, especially in medieval literature. Examples of this are shown in works like “Macbeth,” * Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” and “The Canterbury Tales”.

Read More
249 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
1181 Words | 5 Pages

Keeping in mind that they were pilgrims, abiding to what their religion preaches, Chaucer wants us to think about the significance of being a man or a woman in society and to what extent masculinity and femininity is subjective. We wonder whether the question of masculinity and femininity stops only at the physical aspects, more precisely, sex or whether during Chaucer’s time, one’s behaviour and courage or strength gives a clear portrayal of their gender. By representing the pardoner as an ambiguous person, Chaucer wisely decides to play with the audience. He does not really care, and neither

Read More
399 Words | 2 Pages

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).

Read More
1333 Words | 6 Pages

Beowulf and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” are both narratives in which gender acts as an important theme within their individual communities; both have underlying meanings when it comes to defining what the role men and women in a good community should be. Or in other words, both stories paint a vivid picture of the role of women during the medieval time period, by suggesting that one gender had more power over another. However, these two narratives take alternative paths when expressing their views; Beowulf conveys its message through what is missing, while “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” incorporates satire and uses explicit narrative when telling the experience of a woman that is highly different from other women in her time. Furthermore, another difference that is appealing to the reader’s eyes, besides the way the two narratives reflect to women’s role in medieval times, is that men become the hero in Beowulf, while “the wife”, so a woman, becomes the authority figure in the story of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.” I want to first introduce the two main differences between the two narratives and then I will explain how regardless of the differences, both of these narratives’ main goal is to show that women had less power and a good community back that time was male dominated.

Read More
462 Words | 2 Pages

Geoffery Chaucer a poet in the Middle Ages and on the surface portrays women and love as one would imagine is typical for this time period. The woman is either above or below her male counterpart but never his equal. However, in Chaucer’s writing if we were to dig deeper and analysis these relationships we would notice that Chaucer is trying to make a statement for a change of how the world viewed women and love. Chaucer makes a closer examination of love in “The Night’s Tale,” however the love that is expressed in physical love, without emotional attachment. Chaucer portrays pity for women upon closer examination of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” however the pity is short lived for Chaucer deals out some swift justice.

Read More
975 Words | 4 Pages

The women in Othello and Chaucer's Wife of Bath differ, but in the end both want their husbands to love them. In Othello there are only three women displayed in the story, but the statements that were said about these three women were the belief that all women in that society were all the same- evil, whores who were temptress to the men. The three women; Desdemona, the wife of Othello, Emilia, the wife of Iago, and Bianca, perceived as a prostitute who is a “customer” (l. 138. 4.1) of Cassio. Iago is one of the main characters who degrades and slanders all women including his wife Emilia.

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
380 Words | 2 Pages

Canterbury Tales: “Wife of Baths Tale” Imagine being a knight who is courteous and wise beyond many people! This character simply persists to be a modest man in shining armor, and a person who acts by the laws of chivalry. Excluding the fact that this man raped a young maiden, any one would be more than happy to be in his shoes. This character is what the true meaning of what a knight really is.

Read More
846 Words | 4 Pages

Maybe the author might not intend to, but the readers engulfed with the male-centered mindset might omit the position of women. It is worth demystifying the thought that women should only be visible to men. They have a fundamental role to play in the pieces of literature that we interact with and the society as a whole. Just as pointed out in this study, the society cannot succeed without the input of women, even if they are not seen in the forefront. Even though it would appear that Hildeburh did not succeed in the role she was intended to perform, the way she manages herself in the whole process is of great significance.

Read More
1266 Words | 6 Pages

She may not have said it in that way, but that is where she was going. All women want is to rule men. This was the very beginning to equality through men and women, and that is why I enjoyed this text so much. Chaucer was known to be one of the first known feminists and change the idea that men are always above women. I have a very strong opinion within this subject, so I was very intrigued by

Read More
1060 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
2103 Words | 9 Pages

According to William E. Mead ‘the evils of matrimony, […], were a favourite theme in the Middle Ages’ . This means that marriage was a recurring topic and especially marriages that had trials and problems to overcome. Indeed, in the Canterbury Tales Chaucer uses for some of his tales the setting of marriage. In this essay, the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and the Franklin’s Tale will be used to demonstrate how Chaucer represented marriage and what possible functions could it have. With functions I mean in the texts as part of the plot as well as how marriage functions as a plot device.

Read More
1360 Words | 6 Pages

A Modern View of Feminist Criticism William Shakespeare 's "Othello” can be analyzed from a feminist perspective. This criticism focuses on relationships between genders, like the patterns of thoughts, behavior, values, enfranchisement, and power in relations between and within sexes. A feminist examination of the play enables us to judge the distinctive social esteems and status of women and proposes that the male-female power connections that become an integral factor in scenes of Othello impact its comprehension. I believe that the critical lens that provides modern society with the most compelling view of literature is Feminist Criticism because it analyzes distrust and disloyalty among relationships, women being treated as possessions

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.

Read More

More about Power In The Wife Of Bath's Tale Essay

Related Topics

Open Document