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The Wife In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

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In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales there are many different types of personalities, all of the personalities symbolize something different in all. That story it self explains what a knight in the 14th century was supposed to look like and what they were supposed to symbolize. One of the most intricate Prologues in The Canterbury Tales is The Wife of Bath, for the reason being that the Wife seems as a prostitute. She admits to not only having five husbands, but to the fact she married them all for their money. Being that the Wife has 5 husbands she must really know what a woman has to do to get a man. But as you read farther into the Prologue it seems as if she gets beaten down more and more, and starts to loose sight on what she was really marrying all these men for. If the Wife has everything together …show more content…

She explains her theories, as well as tells us that the thing women most desire is control, complete control. In the Prologue she tells how she got the upper hand with each of her husbands. The wife had a lot of knowledge about the Bible, in her favor of course, but she would be able to defend herself in the sense saying sex and having five husbands not necessarily considered a sin. By the end of the prologue, the Wife does admit that the sexual organs that God gave are for pleasure and procreation.
In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales the Wife explains to us about what women want, they have the need to feel in control. Women also need to feel the power of money. Although to me it is, I feel being faithful is that of a strong hold. If you truly care about someone, and you care enough to fall in love and share vows, promising love to one another, that should be your only one. She admits to finding joy in sex and control and is not ashamed of admitting any of it. So we go back to the question of what do women want? I don’t think anyone will really truly understand what a woman

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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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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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Rome was a city that inspired people in more ways that not. " Rome fell but its legacy lived on." After the Eastern Roman Empire fell in 1453 A.D., people wanted to mimic their legacies because it gave them dignity and nobility. A legacy is "the mark that that you leave that you're remembered for."

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The wife announced she had been married five times and she thinks she knows everything there is to know about marriage. The wife explained how she was able to gain the upper hand (“sovereignty”) over these men. She is a strong willed and dominant women who gets what she wants and whenever she wants it. She thinks she should not be controlled or told what to do by anyone not even her husband. She believe everyone should bow down

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In the Wife of Bath’s, she broke all the stereotypes Medieval society thought a wife is. She tells the people that being married intercourse is part of marriage and God has made privates parts to make generations, not to waste in doing nothing. Being categorized or stereotyped in Medieval society was hard for married women in the Medieval era because often they were portrayed as disloyal, uncontrolled sexual beasts because of the lack of marriage

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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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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

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Through the structure of her speech, Chaucer characterizes the Wife of Bath as loquacious. Because she goes on many tangents during her dialogue, it is apparent that the Wife of Bath is a character that loves to talk. For instance, when she is telling her tale and digresses to talk about Ovid, she says, “If you wish to hear the rest of the tale, [...] When this knight whom this tale specially concerns.” (Wife of Bath Tale 126-127).

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I think it depicts how life was, and how it is now, in the perspective of how hierarchal relationships work and how they came to be. Although some hierarchal relationships, such as the relationship between husband and wife, eventually promoted more bad relationships that were unintended. The other relationships from the guide still hold true for todays modern society even though it was written long ago. Although I disagreed with the text upon initial reading, after analyzing I believe that The Good Wife’s Guide accurately depicts societal hierarchy for the time it was written as well as todays societal

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Throughout her introduction of the tale, and the story itself, we see the Wife of Bath as an experienced, intellectual woman, who despite living in a world of patriarchal power, provides for herself financially, emotionally, and physically. As a feminist icon, she confronts serious social issues that illustrate the subjugation women faced. During her prologue and her tale, it is very clear that the Wife of Bath is proud and not ashamed of her sexuality. She views sex as a good ideal, and argues it, using references from the Bible, that God’s intentions

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Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the best poet in England and his eminence were highly- regarded. In his poem “Wife of Bath”, he consolidated several innovative ideas about genders. His belief of equality between men and women, idea that sovereignty of women were fine by men, and the great academic level of Wife of Bath shown that Chaucer is a feminist. Back in Europe, 1300s, women had a very different social status from now. Women were believed to be set as quiet, home staying figure.

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The Good Wife was well known for the unending cycle of lust and passion among multiple men. “About her broad hips was a short riding skirt…Love and its remedies she knew all about,… for she had been through the old dance” (The Prologue, 4). The Good Wife had been on many pilgrimages in Rome and Boulogne, which did not alter the desire for men that dwelled inside. Religion is specific that a woman shall only have one husband unless the wife is widowed, only that way can the wife remarry. The Good Wife fornicated consciously knowing that it was against religion’s rules.

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Also in the story the part where the knight commits the crime that propels the rest of the story, “He saw a maiden walking all forlorn ahead of him, alone as she was born. And of that spite maiden, spite of all she said. By force he took her maidenhead” ( 61- 64). In the first quote the knight learns a valuable lesson that when finding a woman to wife and love, you must evaluate her on how she will treat you and love you.

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