The Wife of Bath gives a typical rant that she might launch into against one of her husband. Whereas, if one sees it from the other side of the coin, one would say that by doing exactly these things, she confirmed to the negative stereotypes of women being manipulative and deceitful in nature.These actions might at first be seen as a rebellion against the male dominated society, something revolutionary, but with a better inspection, one would realize that her actions did little to nothing in empowering women of her time. (including LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does.Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts.The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of Initially it might come across as a medieval women exerting her independence, but it was more twisted than that. The chief manner in which she has gained control over her husbands Yes, she did strike back at the men, but not to institute her status equal to the males rather for her personal profits.The prologue began with Wife of Bath affirming her position as a knowledgeable person in the context of marriage. After all, she did all that planning to outsmart all her husbands, to fulfill her desires. Not only does the Wife of Bath re-interpret the Bible, she also finds her own textual authorities who agree with her ideas about morality. Struggling with distance learning? The Canterbury Tales: how to provide for herself in a world where women had little independence or Each person has a distinct personality that we can recognize from the way people behave today. The Wife of Bath ascribes to Hammurabi’s code of an eye for an eye: if her husband makes her jealous, she will make him jealous in return. It is useless, says the Wife of Bath, to try and keep jealous tabs on a wife’s activities: either she will love her husband and be faithful, or she will find some way to cuckold him behind his back. She sees nothing wrong with having had five husbands and cannot understand Jesus' rebuke to the woman at the well who also had five husbands. The Wife of Bath’s hatred of Jankyn’s terrible book is another reminder of the importance of the written word and text to Chaucer. He purposely makes The Wife of Bath stand out more compared to the other characters. many lands, she has lived with five husbands. She described herself as a highly experienced individual, as she had had five husbands. In the General Prologue, Chaucer describes the Pardoner as feminine and anxious, which makes sense with his nervousness about being wed to a woman much stronger than himself. More of her character traits are revealed in The Wife of Bath's Prologue. Going beneath the multiple layers, one would notice that Wife of Bath’s relationship with all her husbands was like a commodity market. Wife is intelligent in a commonsense, rather than intellectual, Instead, the Wife of Bath interprets Scripture in her own way. Retrieved from We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Though she kept presenting examples from Bible to prove herself correct and people who preach, wrong, she never herself comprehended the spiritual and deeper meaning of the words written in Bible.

By continuing we’ll assume you’re on board with our Your Deadline is Too Short? power. The Wife of Bath. Yet, in Wife of Bath’s Prologue, Chaucer created Wife of Bath-Alison, a character who is quite flamboyant as well as transgressive in nature. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Though men may have all the tangible power in society, women are better at lying and deceiving than men are: though a man may be the head of the household, the woman, according to the Wife of Bath, is the neck, turning him wherever she likes. As per her, marriage occurred only when sexual lust was tamed and controlled. become.

And in so arguing, she argues against the norms society that gives men the right to believe they can and should control their wives.

has been in her control over their use of her body. In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Chaucer opens with a description of twenty-nine people who are going on a pilgrimage. her body as a bargaining tool, withholding sexual pleasure until She was completely in contrast to what an ideal woman should be, flouting all the accepted norms of so-called seemly feminine behavior in society. She would deprive them sexually, until things go the way she had planned.Critiques have more than often pointed out that Wife of Bath was both spiritually and literally deaf. More than once, she misquoted it, just to prove her arguments correct. The Wife of Bath, however, used the patriarchal system and institution of marriage to her own benefit rather than seeking any meaningful changes.When it comes to her wickedness, one would notice, that she was very much aware of her vices. Yet, in Wife of Bath’s Prologue, Chaucer created Wife of Bath-Alison, a character who is quite flamboyant as well as transgressive in nature. She has traveled

Her thinking was limited only to the sexual aspect of marriage and did not take into consideration the sacred commitments that came with it.However, as one can see, she never understood Bible completely. LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. The Wife of Bath announces that she is an authority on marriage because of her experience, having had five husbands. to other perilous journeys she has endured. The Wife of Bath begins her lengthy prologue by announcing that she has always followed the rule of experience rather than authority. The Wife of Bath is unabashedly lustful and physical. The Wife of Bath begins the Prologue to her tale by establishing herself as an authority on marriage, due to her extensive personal experience with the institution. On one hand, she was fairly open about all her sexual exploits, the way she manipulated her husbands, the way she used her sexual prowess to gain whatever she wished for.

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