Marriage In The Knight's Tale

The Shackles of Marriage and the Canterbury Tales
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, he depicts Medieval society from the viewpoint of multiple characters. At times, the characters seem to conflict in their perceptions of certain themes, such as gender roles. For instance, in The Knight’s Tale, the central female figure, Emelye, vehemently opposes the idea of marriage at first. Yet in The Wife of Bath’s Tale, the central female figure, a fairy, actively pursues marriage with an unwilling knight. It may seem that the differences in these characters demonstrate an ambiguous stance on the roles of women and marriage, but a synthesis their depictions shows Chaucer’s perception of those themes. Despite giving female characters in both
Chaucer displays their power prominently in the The Knight’s Tale when Theseus meets women widowed by the Theban war. When Creon, king of Thebes, dishonors their husbands by refusing to allow the men a proper burial, the widows’ lamentation drives Theseus to wage war on Creon and reclaim the men’s bodies (931-993). These women, armed only with tears, have the ability to start a war between kings by choosing to appeal to Theseus’s merciful side. The power which Chaucer gives women in this story is further demonstrated by their ability to save men from death. When Theseus happens upon Palamon and Arcite as they battle for Emelye’s love, he initially wants to kill them, but the women in his party decide the knights should be spared, and convince Theseus to change his mind (1742-1760). This scene exemplifies the ability of female characters to alter the judgement of men, and more importantly demonstrates that women have the power to decide who will live and who will die. The Wife of Bath’s Tale depicts women with the same ability. The protagonist in the tale is sentenced to death for raping a woman, but Queen Guinevere and her ladies “So longe preyeden the king of grace/Til he his lyf graunted in the place/And yaf him to the quene al at hir wille/To chese whether she
They may be able to sway the judgements of powerful men, but only in cases where doing so benefits their husbands or husbands-to-be. He diminishes the women’s autonomy by removing their freedom of choice or allowing them to only make decisions which benefit men, especially those they marry. Chaucer’s misogynistic portrayal of women is most apparent as his characters interact with their husbands, and ultimately, his depiction of their relationships is as much about marriage as it is the subjugation of