Preview

Women In Early English Literature

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1558 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Women In Early English Literature
For characters in early English literature, race, a lower class, or simply the fact of being female alters the ease of achieving goodness due to societal prejudices. Peasants often speak in prose rather than verse, and authors code their villains with lower social standing and racially ambiguous backgrounds. In the days of Marie de France, love is an emotion felt only by the rich and noble. From these standards, the idea of a feminine dichotomy, or the distinct categorization of women as either good or evil, arises. Any number of faults, such as promiscuity or shrewdness, might doom a character to the latter category, whereas beauty and chasteness mark members of the former. Although seemingly a complimentary portrayal, the use of the flawless …show more content…
(698-703)
In her speech, she expresses that if women were telling the narratives, they would criticize men in a similar manner. Her point illustrates the hypocrisy and misogyny in literature, demonstrating the unfair and incomplete nature of the portrayal of women. Through his inclusion of the Wife, Chaucer also avoids the issue she addresses - because of the epistolary nature of the work, he gives the Wife the opportunity to paint herself. The other members of the party allow the Wife to tell her story, and by doing so, give her the opportunity to define herself however she chooses - an opportunity Lanval’s lover certainly never had. Another way in which the Wife challenges the expectations set up by the feminine dichotomy is present in her opinions on “mastery” (The Wife of Bath’s Prologue 815). Though she loves her current husband more than any other, the Wife has remarried many times. In her prologue she reasons that this fact reflects little on her personal morality, citing the Bible: “‘Look, here's the wise king, lordly Solomon:/I do believe his wives were more than one’” (35-36). Furthermore, she prides herself on challenging the power balance between man and wife. Regarding her own relationship, she claims that her husband allows her autonomy,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    She made it clear in each of her marriages that she was the one in charge. This should be considered a virtue of hers, because if a man attempted to dump all of the household workload on her while he sat around relaxing, she would stand up for herself and force him to do the work. The Wife, however, could sometimes take the belief of the wife playing the dominant role in the marriage too far. She made her first three husbands feel as though it were always their fault, and would not take responsibility for her actions. Chaucer describes the woman as “somewhat deaf, which was a pity” (456). This could perhaps symbolize her ignorance to her husband’s complaints and issues, for the pure reason that she thinks the husband should submit to the will of the wife. The wife would nearly put herself on a pedestal, and would use her husband’s money to buy herself elegant clothing. However, the Wife clearly was not satisfied with one man to marry. The author writes, “She’d had five husbands, all at the church door, / Apart from other company in youth” (470). This unquestionably demonstrates her deadly sin:…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The titular character in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” challenges medieval patriarchy in an attempt to denounce the sexist ideals at the time. However, the Wife of Bath herself is not a flawless example of feminism.…

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This interpretation is weakened by the fact that the Wife of Bath herself conforms to a number of these misogynist and misogamist (antimarriage) stereotypes. For example, she describes herself as sexually voracious but at the same time as someone who only has sex to get money, thereby combining two contradictory stereotypes. She also describes how she dominated her husband, playing on a fear that was common to men, as the Pardoner’s nervous interjection reveals. Despite their contradictions, all of these ideas about…

    • 83 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Wife of Bath contrary to what many critics believe is successful in exposing and mocking misogyny. When the Wife strives to dominate her husbands, she is acting as a famous critic Magee said "contrary to the traditional medieval view of marriage as a reflection of the relationship between Christ (husband) and his church (wife)". The implication is that the relationship between Christ and the church is reversed, so that the church is domineering and controlling instead of Christ. The Wife is further jeopardizing the traditional scheme of the medieval family and medieval woman because, in the traditional medieval family, the husband had control over his wife. This is what is being exposed in The Wife of Bath, the fact that Alison is completely the opposite, and by her being so outspoken she exposes the idea that she is challenging the oppressive society and the medieval church, and some may say succeeds in a big way, Religiously women were still being held accountable for the fall of mankind. Women were to remain pious and comply with their husband's demands, sexual and otherwise The Wife of Bath only complies with her husbands sexually when she gain…

    • 1594 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Primarily, the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” reveals that one should have sovereignty over her significant other. The Wife of Bath conspicuously states her…

    • 1296 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Wife of Bath is an admirable women, but at the same time, she is not. Her actions may be to protect and take care of herself as a woman with no rights though they are not good and respectful to her husbands.…

    • 202 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After reading this line, readers are able to conclude that the Wife of Bath believes that women are superior to men—they are neither bold nor wise. The Wife of Bath wants to spread her cult—she wants the other women to become powerful and superior to their husbands—just like she is. For instance, line 234 translates to the following: a woman should swear and lie to their husband—they have the power to do it (Benson). In line 235, the Wife of Bath makes it clear that her advice is not meant for the wise wives (Benson). Therefore, the readers are able to argue that the wise wives that listen to her advice—take a moment to reflect on their wise manipulation skills. In line 236, the readers learn that the Wife of Bath’s advice is also intended to seek the attention of the wise wives that have been improperly advised on how to make their husbands feel guilty—by using their effective manipulation skills…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Wife of Bath's story compliments her (first or early on scene), since it bolsters the subject of control of men by ladies what she worked hard with every one of her spouses. Dissimilar to the next individuals who recount stories (or falsehoods), she doesn't speak to a social class, be that as it may she speaks to every one of the ladies in the medieval…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When writing, authors often know how they want to portray their characters, like if they want the person to stand for a greater meaning or to exist simply for ridicule. But some authors fall short of this mark and create wishy-washy figures that neither prove nor disprove an idea. This is the case with Chaucer and his portrayal of the Wife of Bath. The writer neither ridicules the woman for her multiple marriages nor does he use her to ridicule the gender norms of the time.…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The wife of bath is a very confident woman who, in the prologue of her tale, talks about her five husbands. She seems very satisfied with her life and her choices; she is fulfilled regardless of the men she was married to. Even with all their deaths, she remains happy and independent. “But even now I will strive to be merry.” (Lines 478-479) The story she tells is about a knight who, after he rapes a young girl, is forced by the queen to find out what women desire the most. He finally discovers that what women want the most is to have sovereignty over their husbands. This goes directly along with the character of the wife of bath, who loved the control she had over her husbands more than anything else. The story proves that the answer to what women want the most is not just one static statement. What a person desires most in life depends on their own character and their own…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    chaucer on marriage

    • 538 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the wife's tale, she shows that old men cannot actually mold their young wives into good, loving creatures. Although the wife of Bath "sith [she] twelve yeer was of age.../ housbonde at chirche dore [she has] had fyve" (4-6), she is no innocent. She manipulates and terrorizes her old husbands with her sexuality to gain money and control, until they are her "[dettours] and...[thrals]" (155). She ends up molding her old husbands to her…

    • 538 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chaucer sets up the reader with a stereotypical description of each character showing them what…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To what extent does the Wife of Bath's Prologue explore the struggle between male and female for power?…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Throughout the texts we have read in class, including in the ones examined closely in this paper (namely Lanval, The Wife’s Lament, and Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale) women consistently appear as powerful beings. This introduces a certain amount of threat simply because the woman’s position in medieval society was largely guided by the principles in the Bible – and thus, women were treated as “lesser” according to writings that stated that they weren’t allowed to teach, were to submit to the men in their life, and were to avoid “playing the whore” (Leviticus 21:9). The texts, then, will often attempt to rid those women of their powerful status or explain why they do not deserve it. At the very least,…

    • 1764 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women in gothic literature are presented as either evil or victims how far do you agree?…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays