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.”
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.
Many women in The Canterbury Tales appear to be beautiful, pretty, and sweet. They do not reflect the true mindset of 14th century European women. Women were known for not being successful as their husbands, but not in the case of The Wife of Bath. She is able to become a successful merchant as we learn in her prologue. This already makes her a definable character who represents feminism ideals because she was able to do something that most women are not known to do which is sell and earn a living from it.
Chaucer writes The Wife of Bath as a character who is superior to her husbands and as a woman who embraces her sexuality to the fullest extent. Through this characterization, she is able to defy the patriarchal society that is threatening to oppress her. She breaks the chains of ownership and finds a way to reverse the gender roles, by instead “chaining” her husbands. Yet, despite all of this, The Wife of Bath still succumbs to the idea that women are only relevant through their physical attributes by not only herself, but Chaucer as
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).
Chaucer uses the old woman from The Wife of Bath’s Tale the same way he used The Wife of Bath and The Queen. The old woman is being characterized as powerful. The Old Woman had control over The Knight’s, from The Wife of Bath’s tale, fate and she also had control over her relationship with The Knight. The old woman was the only person who could save The Knight from the wrath of The Queen, because she was the only one who knew how to answer the proposed question, which was “What is the thing that women most desire”. If it had not have been for the Old woman The Knight would not have obtained the correct answer, and in return the Old Woman forced The Knight to marry her as she made him “swear to do whatever”(135).
The definition of the word feminism is, the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Back in the olden days, women were seen as inferior to men and had to let them do all of the “hard work”. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, Alice is presented as a bold and audacious character, and therefore feels differently about the norm of letting men have all of the rights. She uses her willpower to overcome the social mentality that men have a higher status than women. When labeling herself with this authority, she is able to gain control over her many husbands and win what a man would normally inherit at birth.
The Wife of Bath is a character of complexity, filled with magnificent, but for some, preposterous statements. She is made in the image of a modern woman. She is also seen as an outrageous character because of her behavior and five marriages. Her doctrine on marriage is shocking to her companions, evoking such responses that the single man never wants to marry. Her views on marriage sparked a lot of bad responses.
Women in the middle ages were seen as the inferior gender. In the Canterbury Tales, the portrayal of women during that time is shown. The great chain of being was the idea that the position of one in society was based on the closeness to God. In the Wife of Bath, the wife wants women to be superior to men, moving their positon closer to God. Palomon and Arcite from The Knights Tale, demonstrate the idea of courtly love toward Emelye.
Feminism on its journey from progressing through many ages of history has molded and shaped how women are empowered and perceived today. From the beginning, when the thought of women advancing over men was almost comical, to women serving the same careers as men today, the female sex has progressed through immense changes. Geoffrey Chaucer, creating his character “The Wife of Bath” with awful characteristics of the average unintelligent “feminist” shows what the female sex was perceived as in the Fifteenth Century, while also giving Chaucer's own opinions and views of the coming of the female sex. Through many ages and centuries, all the way to the Nineteenth Century, Priscilla Wakefield made an impact on what individuals were simply looking
“A blanket’s purpose,” she commenced, “is solely to grant comfort to those who need it. That could be anything really. The practicality of warmth or even emotional reassurance. If you can do that, Walter, then you have succeeded as a blanket.” Years passed and he rarely was chosen to be taken out of that wicker basket.
Patrick O’brian was a neat freak as a child. He washed his hands every five minutes, and he did things like wash each grape twice before he put it into his mouth. Other children loved to play in the dirt... not Patric. One day he was sanitizing his hands as he was walking to the school, and he tripped and fell into a puddle of toxic sewer water, and from then on, he was known as “The Incredible Sewer Titan!”
I am the knight described in Chaucer's original pilgrims. I am looked at as worthy, honorable, and wise. A lot of people has recognized me for all of the battles I have won, but realize that I am not as happy as I should be. People view me as worthy because I have won fifteen battles and have not lost a single battle yet. I feel that I am honorable because I am morally sound and right-minded, I do what is good for the good of the people.
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.
