Many scholars today debate that the Wife of Bath is a feminist standing against oppressive behavior from males and the technical definition of femininity and masculinity. Wife of Bath is characterized being radical especially when it comes to relationships with men. She is characterized as knowing much about love, being depicted as gap-toothed, symbolizing being “sexually accomplished”; she admits that she is a rambunctious woman who enjoys sex and is not ashamed of it, which is a violation of the medieval view that saw sex as justified only for procreation.
In Chaucer's time, the antifeminism was strong in the church. Women were frequently characterized as monsters; they were sexually unsatisfying, lecherous, short-tempered, and they were patronized by church authorities. Women were not allowed to participate in church doctrine in any way; likewise, a second marriage was considered suspect. Furthermore, in Chaucer's time, perpetual virginity received considerable praise. Some of the saints were canonized because they preferred death to the loss of their virginity,
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“God has given women by nature deceit, weeping, and spinning, as long as they live” (Chaucer, 201). The Wife of Bath believes that experience is the greatest authority, and since she has been married five times, she certainly considers herself an authority on the. It is ironic to see the even though is not religious but, she uses the Bible as justification to pardon her behavior. She is not ashamed of her having six different husbands and being sexually active for pleasure, another thing that was frowned upon: fornication. To most people of this time, sex was strictly for reproduction. Her reasoning for not needing to be ashamed is that God made reproductive organs for both “necessary business and pleasure” (Chaucer, 189). As justification for marrying multiple times, she believes that in God’s eyes it is approved of and