Chaucer's Canterbury Tales-Compare And Contrast Essay

There is something nettlesome about not being able to firmly pindown an interpretation of someone we just met. Particularly, Chaucer seemed to gain some perverse pleasure from keeping everyone but himself from knowing a definitive answer about his most complex character. Throughout the story, Chaucer’s motives constantly appear to shift depending on the particular interpretation of the reading; thus, causing headaches for anyone attempting to firmly pin down the author’s true intention. One of the permeating uncertainties revolves around one of the most well written characters from Chaucer’s time period: whether Chaucer was applauding or criticizing the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath’s tale focuses on a knight who must acquire knowledge of
Specifically, Chaucer outlines the difference between the two passages by ending both of them with some reference to a prayer to God and Jesus. After ending her prologue on her true love, the Wife of Bath remarks, “I prey to God, that sit in magestee, / So blesse his soule for his mercy deere” (Lines 831-832). Particularly, this short passage has a grateful tone, where the Wife of Bath is sincerely appreciative for the love as she earnestly asked God for mercy on her man’s soul. Though this starkly contrasts to the ending lines of her tale as her prayer to God turns rather sinister and cold-hearted, which resonates with the audience’s first introduction to the Wife of Bath during her prologue. Ending her tale, she leaves the remaining pilgrims with the grim
This extremism presented between the two samples of her prays offers ample proof of both her genuinity and also her hostility. But rather, it’s the seamless method in which she intertwines those two antithetical personalities that makes her true motives so onerous to differentiate. Reflecting back to the Wife of Bath’s initial personal narrative of her relationships with her previous four husbands, the audience once again realizes technique that she so masterfully employed to manipulate those men for her own selfish gains. Thereby, Chaucer is indirectly using this character as a warning for the male audience, who during this time most likely assumed that women could not have such complex motives along with the capabilities to carry them out. In doing so, Chaucer recognizes and acknowledges these qualities that are normally associated with men are present in women as well. So, while he might be critiquing this authentic character, it has more to do with the fact that her moral intentions and capabilities are something that should not be overlooked. Otherwise, the cost of such a lesson learned from first-hand experience would come at a hefty cost given the fate of the previous four husbands of the Wife of