Wife Of Bath's Portrait example essay topic

Sharp, intelligent and remarkably astute; Chaucer the author is evidently as fascinated by the Wife of Bath as the na " ive, impressionable narrator through whom her portrait is related. A shameless, outspoken woman, she could quite feasibly claim the most complete portrayal; appearance, behaviour and spirit are discussed - and Chaucer even delves into intimate personal history. Yet, despite her flaws being laid bare, readers - and, more significantly, Chaucer himself - respond to this character with such delight that the Wife of Bath has become one of the Canterbury Tales' most celebrated pilgrims. I intend that our study of the character's physical and moral presentation will reveal why. Chaucer opens the Wife of Bath's portrait by remarking rather unexpectedly that - while assuredly a good woman - she is, sadly, 'som del deef'. The peculiarity of this curiously immediate yet brief comment strikes as being significant; while some may just regard it a 'quirk', I feel it unwise to do so as critiques of the other pilgrims have proven Chaucer's seemingly odd or unimportant observations to be those most illuminating.

Firstly, considering the directness of his remark: Initially I was reminded of a well-known saying asserting the significance of 'first impressions', and indeed, perhaps by beginning in this manner he intends to soften readers responses to later mentions of the Wife's pride and arrogance. However, it is not simply a reader's impression of a character that begins to be shaped by early observations, but also our attitude towards them. By deciding not to dwell on her deafness - lightly glossed over (merely pronounced 'scathe') - and instantly moving onto her adeptness as a seamstress, I sensed that Chaucer intends the more discerning reader to sympathise rather than empathize with the 'good Wif'; her disability is so briefly mentioned that we are not instinctively provoked to pity, but instead naturally progress to an unconscious idea of a slight superiority. If seen as ambiguous - her deafness perhaps symbolic of her disregard for society's moral codes, which her arrogance and licentiousness would have doubtlessly broken - the comment would remain consistent with this theory; while we are to some extent aware of how medieval England would have viewed the Wife, she herself appears very much oblivious to the inappropriateness of her behaviour. Having more insight than the Wife is capable of possessing is a concept borne out as we read further into the portrait, and are confronted with reports of increasingly socially unacceptable self-conduct. However, while tempting to regard what certainly have been considered somewhat 'loose' morals with a sneer, Chaucer's exercise of considerable authorial control over the Tales' pilgrim-narrator enables the author to elicit a more constructive response.