Compare And Contrast The Wife Of Bath's Tale And The Millers Tale
Ribald sexual content, humor, cheating wives, “arse” kissing, “The Millers Tale” and “The Wife of Baths Tale” have it all. However this is only 2 out of the many tales in the Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer. This story is about a group of 29 people who are all going on a pilgrimage to Canterbury to see the tomb of St. Tomas Beckett. In the tavern they meet in, they decide to have a competition for who can tell the best tale, and the winner will receive a free dinner. In this novel, Chaucer is trying to show how various aspects of life such as love and marriage are portrayed in the different social classes of a satire. In “The Millers Tale” and the “Wife of Baths Tale”, Chaucer shows how in two different social classes, love and marriage are shown differently. Some of the loves are based on nobility, some are forced, and some are just mutual respect for the person.
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In “The Millers Tale” the way love is shown is not really even love.
When Nicholas sees Allison, he realizes quickly how bad he wants to sleep with her. What he does not see in Allison is personality, and goes solely by looks. Allison at first does not accept his offer and will not sleep him. But she quickly caves in, betraying her husband John, showing that there is no true love in their relationship. In this tale, the female is treated as a “prize” to be fought over by 3 principal male characters. The only one who fully engages on the true concept of love is John. He is truly sad when he finds out that she may be in trouble from the flood and he goes through a great effort to save her. But, his efforts and devotions seem foolish because of her betrayal of him. In the end, it is decided that in “The Millers Tale” love is either shown as misunderstood or not love at all, but
lust.
In the “Wife of Baths Tale”, almost the whole story is all concerned with women. The male characters job in the story is to merely find out what women want. Throughout the tale, the Knights fate is decided by the Queen, therefore showing a more feminist view on love. The Wife of Bath explains in this tale how the Knight is overcome by his own power, and rapes the woman. She believes that the males cannot control themselves and need a female (like how the Queen decides the Knights fate) to help control them. Later in the tale, it shows how one should do the exact opposite of what Nicholas was doing in “The Millers Tale’. When the knight takes the old woman to try to find out what women want, he chooses not to go by looks, but by how she promises to be loyal and would be better than young and unfaithful. By telling her what she wanted to hear, she turns young and beautiful. In this tale, Chaucer is trying to show how in the higher social class in this satire, there would be better choices made when deciding your love than in the lower class.
In the different social classes in the medieval times, there are different views and ways in which women were treated. One tale told by a member of the lower class shows a more vulgar view on love. The tale coming from the Wife of Bath shows a smarter and more successful way on how to get the one you love. This should always be remembered in the real world because one should always tell women what they want to hear, and not go solely on looks but by personality and attitude.
In “The Millers Tale” the way love is shown is not really even love.
When Nicholas sees Allison, he realizes quickly how bad he wants to sleep with her. What he does not see in Allison is personality, and goes solely by looks. Allison at first does not accept his offer and will not sleep him. But she quickly caves in, betraying her husband John, showing that there is no true love in their relationship. In this tale, the female is treated as a “prize” to be fought over by 3 principal male characters. The only one who fully engages on the true concept of love is John. He is truly sad when he finds out that she may be in trouble from the flood and he goes through a great effort to save her. But, his efforts and devotions seem foolish because of her betrayal of him. In the end, it is decided that in “The Millers Tale” love is either shown as misunderstood or not love at all, but
lust.
In the “Wife of Baths Tale”, almost the whole story is all concerned with women. The male characters job in the story is to merely find out what women want. Throughout the tale, the Knights fate is decided by the Queen, therefore showing a more feminist view on love. The Wife of Bath explains in this tale how the Knight is overcome by his own power, and rapes the woman. She believes that the males cannot control themselves and need a female (like how the Queen decides the Knights fate) to help control them. Later in the tale, it shows how one should do the exact opposite of what Nicholas was doing in “The Millers Tale’. When the knight takes the old woman to try to find out what women want, he chooses not to go by looks, but by how she promises to be loyal and would be better than young and unfaithful. By telling her what she wanted to hear, she turns young and beautiful. In this tale, Chaucer is trying to show how in the higher social class in this satire, there would be better choices made when deciding your love than in the lower class.
In the different social classes in the medieval times, there are different views and ways in which women were treated. One tale told by a member of the lower class shows a more vulgar view on love. The tale coming from the Wife of Bath shows a smarter and more successful way on how to get the one you love. This should always be remembered in the real world because one should always tell women what they want to hear, and not go solely on looks but by personality and attitude.