Wife Of Bath's Tale example essay topic

Geoff ery Chaucer wrote his legendary Canterbury Tales in Medieval times when women were considered as servants to their husbands and powerless. This was a time where church and state were one entity and in the church's eyes women were supposed to be gentile and and virtuous. Sexuality and education of women was condemned by the church and state. The clothing during that time also represented the ideals of that time. Their skirts were long and ankles were never to be shown naked in public. Young girls were taught that a fulfilled life included marrying a rich and noble man, staying at home taking care of the kids and being in tune with a lifestyle that the church praised.

Chaucer wrote his female characters to represent the women he had come into contact with. The virtuous and beautiful women came into play in the Franklin's and the Physician's tales. In these tales, the women that are the main characters are kind, beautiful and everything the church thought a woman should be. These women showed their virtuousness by choosing death over being morally stained or losing their family honor. Though Chaucer had these kind of women represented in his stories, he was a radical writer.

He criticized the church, Medieval society and other common figures he encountered in his travels. The most radical story that Chaucer has written, as far as women are concerned, is The Wife of Bath's Tale. The main character in this tale, which is a woman, actually holds the power over her husband. Though Chaucer wrote of the people of his time, his story of a woman holding power is extremely radical during the time that he had written it. In the Physician's tale, a knight named Virginius has a beautiful and kind daughter named Virginia. There was a judge named Appius who at all cost wanted to attain the fourteen year old Virginia.

He get Claudius, a criminal, to help in his conspiracy. Claudius goes to court to accuse the knight of stealing a servant girl form him and pretending that she is the knights daughter. The judge rules that the's daughter is not really his and orders the knight to hand his daughter over to Claudius. When the knight goes home, Virginia is so distr ought that she decides to " die as a ma dian". Virginia convinces her father to kill her with his sword. Virginius cuts off his daughters head and and bring it to the court.

Appius orders that the knight be put to death for murder. Meanwhile, the townspeople learned of the plot and threw Appius in jail and wants to put Claudius to death. Virginius intercedes hand Claudius is exiled. In this tale the marty m of highly dramatized by the judge cutting off his daughter's head. He would rather she his daughter dead then handed over to a treacherous man. Honor is something holy and should be kept at all cost.

Once it is saved all those who tried to take a family's honor are dealt with harshly. In the second tale The Fanklin's tale, a knight Averages wants to make his life complete by marring a pious wife. He choses Dorigen, a patient woman, to make his wife. Soon after they are married the knight has to travel to make a living. While he is gone Dorigen becomes extremely sad. Her neighbor tries to convince Dorigen to go to parties but she refuses.

One day she accepts an invitation to go to a picnic. There she meets a wealthy man, Arelius, who tells her that he will do anything to attain her. Jokingly she promises that if he removes all the rocks from the coast, she will marry him. He goes into a deep depression. His bother agrees to pay a magician to remove all the rocks from the coast. Meanwhile, Averages returnes home and everything is right again.

The rocks are removed from the coast and Arelius tells Dorigen that she must keep her promise. She tells her husband and wants to kill herself. The knight says that she must keep her promise. She does as her husband says. Arelius releases her from her promise once he sees her sorrow.

But he cannot pay the fee to the magician. Once the magician learns of Arelius deed, he releases him from their agreement. In this tale, the noble knight agrees to give up his wife just to keep a promise. Even though Dorigen wants to kill herself, again the martyr, Averages makes her keep her word and honor.

In this story, all characters are rewarded for showing compassion to each other. There is no conspiracy to take away the honor of one's family therefore all are rewarded in the end. The prologue begins with the Wife of Bath telling how she had already married five men and welcomed a sixth. This is a stark contrast to the Church's belief of how women should act. She continues on that she does however follow the church's guidelines on being "fruitful and multiplying". She also says that Jesus never gave one a cap on how many people a person can marry whether it be two or eight so why should men look down upon her for marrying five.

She goes on to retell the story of King Solomon having multiple wives but still being seen as acting in the eyes of God. Chaucer is clearly showing the readers how one can take the bible to prove their point or actions right no matter what they are. The Pardoner stands and rejects the Wife's opinions. She interrupts his speech and goes on to talk about her husbands.

She had three good ones and two of them were younger than her. She did not put out to the older ones to get their riches and all else that they had to give. As for the rest, she used jealousy and cheap tricks. The fourth husband and her were just alike but he died.

The next one beat her and was the most violent. After he died, the next one she married was half her age. He took all her property and hit her so hard once that she almost lost her hearing. He used the bible to justify his actions. After he hit her, she acted like she was dead. Once revived he gave her all the power in the marriage.

The wife is headstrong against the religious thinking of the time. She uses the bible to show that God does not see all people who live in sin with sex as bad people. She raises questions as to why women's sexuality is seen as a bad thing in the eyes of God. She especially goes after people who use the bible to treat women like they are nothing. She points out that the writers of the text no nothing about women and therefore questions how they can say what women should be. The Wife can be seen as a feminist figure but that view point is a bit incorrect.

She manipulates people and and uses sex in order to get what she wants from men. She is also as hypocritical as the men she accuses. She calls her husbands ingrates but then does not put out in order to get gifts from them. The Wife then justifies her actions by stating that society has forced her to act this way in order to get what she wants. She uses this obstacle to hide the fact that she is getting older and is not as great looking of a woman as she used to be.

So her sexuality is becoming less potent against her husbands. She doesn't see all that she is doing in marriage as immoral but more as being smart about getting the things she wants. The quality of life that the nobles take for granted. The point of her story is not to be thought of as equal with men but to have power over men. She wants to be in control of their thoughts, lives as well, and most importantly, their riches. The Wife therefore is only happy when she is in control of the marriage.

This is seen by her faking a near death experience when her last husband hits her. He then gives up control of the marriage. This arrangement is, in her view, equal. She no longer has to hold sexual favors from her husband and gives up on her thought of the marriage being a business.

She can now live happily with her husband. The actual tale happen in the time of King Authur's court. Camelot was a magical place filled with fairies, elves and happiness. But now it friars how go around begging for money has replaced them. One of Authur's knights was riding home on his horse one day. He say a lady walking by the side of the road and raped her.

Usually a rapist would have been taken to the gallows without question but Authur's wife, the Queen, begged for him to not kill the knight. Authur in turn gave his wife the final decision on the fate of the knight. The Queen posed a question to the knight. She said that is he could tell her what women would most desire within a year's time, she would spare his life. He went all around and no one he asked could tell him a definite answer. Some said good sex while others said nobility.

At the end of his one year, he asked one las t person the question. That person was an old lady. She said that she could guarantee him the right answer if he would grant her one thing that she wanted. The knight agreed and they went to the queen's court.

The queen again asked the question and the knight answered that all women want sovereignty and to have power over their husband. All women in the court agreed and the queen spared the knights life. The old lady then stood and reminded the knight of his promise to grant her a wish and she wished for his hand in marriage. The knight was taken aback. He knew that although his life was spared, he would live in misery because he was married to such an ugly woman. Weddings were usually beautiful and full of cheer but the knight wedding was sad and in private.

After being married, the old lady to ld the knight how all her dreams had come true. While telling him this, she notice his melancholy attitude. She asked why was he so unhappy. The knight then told her how disgusted he was at the sight of her. He told her that he could never be happy with such an ugly wife that came from such an low lineage. She reply's that she cannot help what she looks like and questions his definition of nobility.

She states that nobility is not passed down by ancestors via wealth and land but nobility is passed down by God through grace. One does not deserve nobility by birthright, because ancestors cannot pass down their grace or good will. God gives one nobility through their actions. She then states that her nobility is as good as anyone else's no matter how much poverty because she is devoted to him and lives a christian life. She then presents a choice to him. The knight can chose for her to be the ugly person she is but she will serve all his needs and be devoted to him for all her life.

He also can chose for her to be young and beautiful but that he cannot control her and she will have her way. After she gives such a speech, the knight gives her the power to make the decision, therefore choosing to give her independence. She kisses him and turns into a beautiful maid. Form then on they lived to serve each other; she satisfied him sexually and he was devoted to her. The story ends with this moral: "let Christ grant all women submissive husbands who sexually satisfy their wives. This tale gives one the feminist-like expression that if men give up the social power over their wives, both will have a happy marriage.

It seems that the speech about nobility coming from God is really coming from the opinion of the Wife of Bath. Both women are very alike. Both have radical opinions such as the defense of female sexuality and that she exemplifies all that God wants a woman to be. But one difference between the two is that when the old lady speaks to men about her opinions, she is heard and respected.

This part seems to be what the Wife of Bath wishes what happens when she speaks. The kiss turning the old lady into a beautiful maiden at the end of the story is what The Wife of Bath believes what happened to her when her current husband gave the power in their marriage up to her. In conclusion, the Wife of Bath's tale is the most modern of all of Chaucer's tales because it clearly state the opinions of women during that time. The fact that Chaucer would let the voices of women be heard during a time when they were thought of as nothing more than servants, is what makes Chaucer one of the greatest writers of his time.