The Wife Of Bath A Story Of A Woman - 849 Words

The Wife of Bath is a story of a woman who has been married numerous times. The Wife was married five times to be exact. In which the Wife of Bath considers herself to be a professional due to her experiences of marriage. The Wife of Bath is on a defensive roll of defending marriage. This could be due to the many criticisms she has received from society itself. This tale also provides us with an understanding of the role of women from a personal perspective, as well as a societal perspective. In the Wife of Bath there is a tension that is struck between societal expectation and individual desire, and that is foreseen through the topic of marriage. The Wife of Bath provides us with details about medieval femininity, masculinity, and sexuality. Basically, what it was like to be a man or a woman in Medieval society. The Wife of Bath also provides us with an insight on gender and sex roles. Whether or not it was straightforward or complex. The Wife of Bath has a switch up in the roles of femininity and masculinity. Men are on the bottom. Men are undermined, and taken advantage of by the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath portrays the woman’s role as having the upper hand. Women are in control. The Wife of Bath portrays that woman are out for wealth, control, sex, and power by marriage when she states â€Å"I can’t keep continent for years and years†¦one husband’s dead and gone, some other Christian man will take me on.† The Wife of Bath claims to â€Å"First put them in the wrong, and out ofShow MoreRelated Wife of Bath in Chaecers Canterbury Tales Essay912 Words   |  4 PagesCanterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer the story tells about men and women going on pilgrimages, among them the Wife of Bath in search of her 6th husband, who go on a journey to pay their respect to Sir Thomas à ¡ Becket. During the story the Wife of Bath strongly expresses herself as a very strong woman an d knows what she expects with the men shes with. As well as this, with all her beauty and respect she was given in life the Wife of Bath displays herself highly. Finally, she ideals herRead More Canterbury Tales: A Feminist Perspective of Wife of Bath Essay1126 Words   |  5 PagesA Feminist Perspective of Wife of Bath Many literary critics throughout the years have labeled the Wife of Bath, the gap-toothed (23) character of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, a feminist. She is a strong-willed and dominant woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. However, this is not the definition of a feminist. A feminist is someone who believes that women and men are equal, while also is able to recognize and appreciate the unique characteristics of both sexes. ARead MoreIntelligent, Manipulative, and Lovers: Women Throughout Literature953 Words   |  4 PagesShahrazad and the Wife of Bath, Shahrazad is fighting to live while the Wife of Bath is simply on a journey playing a story telling game. Although in very different situations they both have the same strengths and similar characteristics, and this adds up to show the role of women at the current time of the works and now. In the Thousand and One Nights, Shahrazad tries to change the Kings ways of killing the woman he sleeps with the night before. She lies to him and begins to tell stories each night forRead MoreSexual Relations in Wife of Bath Essay1008 Words   |  5 PagesSexual Relations in Wife of Bath Sexual relations between men and woman have created issues of life and death from the beginning of time. In most classic Western beliefs it began when Eve with the help of the Devil seduced Adam thus leading the downfall of humanity into an abyss of sin and hopelessness. This issue arises in all literature from Genesis, Chaucer and into modern day. Authors, clerks and writers of all types have aided stereotyping women throughout history and Geoffrey Chaucer isRead MoreThe Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Essay1115 Words   |  5 PagesCanterbury Tales is a set of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the fourteenth century. The stories were told by a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral, in hopes to see a shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. To make time go by the host recommended each pilgrim tell a tale. The tale that each character gives, reveals that person’s background and life. Some pilgrims matched their stereotype of that time but most do not. The Priore ss, Madame Eglentyne, and Wife of Bath, Allison, are two charactersRead MoreChaucers Use of the Female Gender to Shape His Text with Reference to Wife of Bath1034 Words   |  5 Pagesto Shape His Text with Reference to Wife of Bath With reference to Chaucers Wife of Bath, we can clearly see how Chaucer uses the female gender to shape his text. Chaucer uses the female gender to show the many chacteristics or traits a female may have. He shows this through the tale of the Wife of Bath and the female characters in the tale such as the old women. Chaucer hopes to give us an insight into a womens thought and desires. The Wife of Bath tells the tale of a young knight whomRead MoreFeminist Analysis Of The Wife Of Bath 1419 Words   |  6 PagesFeminism in the Wife of Bath The story of the Wife of Bath provides an insight to the role women were expected to play during the late middle ages. In the Prologue, Alice narrates her story guided by her life experience and religious beliefs. Alice is a reformed woman who goes against the patriarchal community’s expectation of women being suppressed by their men (Carter, 309). According to Kittredge (440), the wife of bath contradicts the church’s expectation that the wife should be loyal and holyRead MoreThe Changing Society of the Middle Ages in The Wife of Bath Essay1098 Words   |  5 PagesThe Changing Society of the Middle Ages in The Wife of Bath When the Middle Ages began, society was divided into a rigid class system. But by the time Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, the world was changing rapidly. A new social mobility was granted, and the middle or working class was created. Before this, women were ignored and often blamed for the plights of their society, and the new social mobility opened many new doors for women. Women, whom for years were starved forRead More Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay - The Powerful Wife of Bath1099 Words   |  5 PagesThe Powerful Wife of Bath   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Geoffrey Chacers The Canterbury Tales we are introduced to 29 people who are going on a pilgrimage to St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. Each person is represented to fit a unique type of behavior as shown by people during the medieval ages.   My attention was drawn to the Wife of Bath through which Chaucer notes the gender inequalities.   Predominantly, women could either choose to marry and become a childbearing wife or go intoRead MoreAnalysis Of The Wife Of Bath 1660 Words   |  7 PagesThe Canterbury Fails: An Analysis of Misogyny in the Wife of Bath’s Tale At first glance, you wouldn’t think that the Wife of Bath’s tale is anything other than feminist. She is, undeniably, the only non-religious female character in The Canterbury Tales and therefore is the only character who is approached from a point of view that was generally uncommon. We don’t have many— or even any, as far as I’m aware— pieces of medieval literature written by or for women or with a main female protagonist