But the answer to the old woman’s question proves that he has learned his lesson after all. With this tale, the Wife of Bath is trying to portray a message that women are strong and determined, which goes along with her belief in the equality of the
This quote suggests that the Wife of Bath believes all women are incapable of keeping a secret, which is an untrue and harmful stereotype. Her main opinion on women seems to be that while they wish to appear wise, pure, and good on the outside, it does not mean they are perfect internally and many
This mockery shows stereotypes in a humorous way in order to attempt to change the way human nature is towards women. The first sentence of the Wife of Bath shows the reader that she relays on experience rather than listening and learning.
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.
One inference I can make about the Wife of Bath in "The Tale of the Wife of Bath" is that she is money hungry. In this response I am going to explain why I think she is money hungry. She had given hints to being money hungry, she never fully came out and said she marries for money or some type of goods. One clue the author provides is that she is constantly marrying. Are inferences the same as predictions?
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
In the Tale of the Wife of Bath, the reader can infer that the wife of bath is rather promiscuous. In the general prologue, she was described as wearing very tight, scarlet red hose to church on a Sunday. The color red is traditional the color of seduction and it’s not a color most would wear to their Sunday church service. In the text it also states, “With five churched husbands bringing joy and strife, not counting other company in youth,” which reveals that she has had many husbands and she has shared with multiple other men in her youth. The author also states that she has very open gapped teeth which can be inferred by the reader as a metaphor to how open her legs are to other men.
One inference I can make about the Wife of Bath in “The Tale of the Wife of Bath” by Chaucer is that she has magical powers. The author provided multiple places in the story where she was aided with magical powers. To begin, once the knight had spent his year of traveling and seeking truth he walked back to the castle in shame because he knew he was going to be killed for not having the correct answer. On his way he saw a few ladies dancing and carrying on around a fire. He figured it would not hurt to ask these ladies for the truth he had been searching for.
Through this character Chaucer also implies that rich intelligent people are apt to sin through the use of deceit in order to fulfill their desires. The Wife of Bath’s Tale Prologue focuses on Alison, a lustful woman who desires control over her lovers. She is powerful and vital, having gone through five husbands. Alison is a symbol of opposition to authority because she interprets the Bible in her own way, which is that women can and should be allowed to marry more than once. The Wife of Bath preaches dominance over men in a relationship, and advises women to make the most of marriage “debts”.
The Wife of Bath’s behaviors are questionable but are inherently aided by the social injustices that face women of this time period. The Wife of Bath discloses that for her first three marriages she sought out older wealthy men for sex and money. Her intentions included making her husbands fall in love with her and then making them have enormous amounts of sex until they die. In addition, the wife elaborates on her occasional tumultuous tirades of accusing her husbands of being unfaithful to her. Her uproars chided her husbands into persistently obliging into her every request.
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).
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
Both texts have been chosen as they deal with marriage and its tribulations and both offer an insight as to what marriage represented. The representation of marriage will be analysed in terms of the power relationship between the spouses and by the notion of ‘trouthe’. ‘trouthe’ according to the Middle English Dictionary (MED) has about 16 meanings, however this essay will focus on the notions of fidelity, commitment, devotion and honour. The Franklin’s Tale will be the first text to be analysed, then the Wife of Bath’s Prologue.
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.
The Wife of Bath states, “You have two choices; which one will you try? To have me old and ugly till I die, but still a loyal, and humble wife that never will displease you all her life, or would you rather I were young and pretty and chance your arm what happens in a city where friends will visit you because of me, yes, and in other places too, maybe. Which would you rather have? The choice is all your own” (395-403).
