Throughout history, women have had to fight against stigma and stereotypes in society. In every era, from the ancient world to present day, females have been persecuted and taken advantage of due to their gender. In our previous set of readings, the female protagonists were strong characters who defied weak stereotypes, but were still viewed as lesser beings than men. In our second group of readings, where were written more recently, women saw a slight increase in their sovereignty. All depict women as powerful figures who use their wits to make a better life for themselves.
In The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, we are introduced to the wife herself. She may embody many of the negative stereotypes men have of women, but there is no doubt that she is cunning and intelligent. She weds five husbands and walks over nearly all of them, proving the stigma that men wear the pants in a marriage is wrong. She uses her sexuality and verbal abuse to emotionally manipulate her significant others. In The Wife of Bath’s tale, she introduces to us a knight who was caught and charged with raping a young maiden. In order to save his
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Three virtues appear to the book’s protagonist Christine after she breaks down regarding how horribly men treat women. Lady Reason, the breakout of the virtues, explains to Christine that she is to be a champion for her sex and help defend females. She convinces her that there are many powerful women throughout history, telling her stories of incredible and intelligent women. One of her stories focuses on the Amazons, a powerful tribe of women who struck fear into men’s hearts in the ancient world. This book was written in the 14th century, a time where females were under men’s thumbs much of the time. Thus, as a story, it is incredibly instructive and shows women as a gender in a new, and greatly significant,