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Role of women in literature
Feminism in chaucers the wife of bath
Role of women in literature
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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.”
Questions: 2.) In this section, the Wife of Bath comments on the different answers given to the Knight, and her comments give insight to her opinions and views of women. For example, the text states, “Others assert we women find it sweet when we are thought dependable, discreet and secret, firm of purpose and controlled, never betraying things that we are told. But that’s not worth the handle of a rake; women conceal a thing? For Heaven’s sake!”
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.
Chaucer uses both the tales of the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner to display similar morals which lead to the common theme that the best way to resolve a flaw is the realization and correction of faults. The Wife of Bath’s Tale demonstrates the theme that the recognition of a flaw is the best way to resolve it. The Pardoner narrates a story of a knight who has been punished for his lustful crime to a young woman. In order to be forgiven, he goes on a search to find what a woman most desires. He finds a woman who tells him that “a woman wants the same self sovereignty / over her husband as over her lover” (214-215).
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
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.
One of Chaucer’s Tales called the Wife of Bath displays remarkable diversity in the genre such as showing the social norms, sex, and money. The underlying theme of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is that women should be allowed to decide for themselves. Furthermore, men are better off allowing women to make this decision. The main character of the Tale “the Wife” or Allusion is a beautiful, intelligent, and young woman that attempts to justify her being remarried five times all of which for different reasons.
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” begins with an unequivocal incident of sexual assault, yet how that assault and the question of consent are interpreted are complicated in light of Suzanne Edwards’ essay, “The Rhetoric of Rape.” Edwards’ essay provides a new historicist lens to provide a context in which the reader can perhaps reconcile the problematic nature of sexual assault that Chaucer inserts into the “loathly lady” narrative. The rhetoric employed by the law in regards to rape complicates Chaucer’s knight’s crime by creating an atmosphere of ambiguity that raises more questions than answers. The disconnect that occurs between the rapist and his victim seems quite abominable on the part of Chaucer and his narrator in that it is quickly forgiven
The wife of Bath beliefs that women need to be in control which make men think why because men were to be in control. Men were to take care of women, they were looked at as delicate things that had to be watched over. The wife of Bath beliefs that men should find thing the secret to make women happy, money would be for her. Like in the story it 's the queen and women of the court who determines the punishment for King Arthur the Knight for him raping a women. The Wife of Bath beliefs that women should have the control in the relationship because she rebels and is a feminist.
Power as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “the possession of control, authority, or influence over others.” It connotes having the upper hand over what happens to somebody or something. In the book, The Wife of Bath’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, he talks about a kingdom that had a lusty knight who raped a lady, and was charged to find out what women loved the most. In the knight’s pursuit to answer this riddle, he discovers that women want sovereignty and power. Power is a very important theme in the book.
The role of women in “The Canterbury Tales” were as untrustworthy, selfish and vain and often like caricatures not like real people at all. A character that stood out and did not care on how she was looked at was The Wife of Bath. The wife appears to be more outspoken and independent than most women of medieval times, she became a symbolize for women and her character change the literature world. This tells us a lot about the roles men and women had to be in.
The literary device that is used in the text is simile. Simile is an explicit comparison between two unlike things through the use of connecting words, usually “like” or “as.” The technique of simile is known as a rhetorical analogy, as it is a device used for comparison. (http://www.literarydevices.com/simile). In the text of General Prologue, for example, in line 69, and his port as meeke as is a maide.
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
Chaucer also uses satire in a more comical way to illustrate how women can’t keep a secret. The Wife of Bath reveals this trait when she says “by heaven, we women can’t conceal a thing” (Chaucer 341), mocking the suggestion that women have an inability to keep a secret. Chaucer also makes fun of the knight’s condition using the irony of women being incapable of keeping a secret as the only thing that can save him. Mocking women and their incapability to not share private information only further reveals Chaucer’s satire.
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