The Wife of Bath by Geoffery Chaucer Essay - 696 Words

Analysis of the Wife of Bath nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer starts his prologue with the description of twenty-nine people who are going on a pilgrimage. Each person has a different personality that we can recognize from the way people behave today. He purposely makes The Wife of Bath stand out more compared to the other characters. â€Å"In the â€Å"General Prologue,’ the wife of bath is intentionally described in an explicit way to provoke a shocking response† (Blackman 23). The way she dresses and her physical features are references to her past. By referring to her attitude on men and her physical appearance, Chaucer questions the Wife of Bath’s behavior reguarding strick Christian rules. The Wife of†¦show more content†¦The Wife of Bath is overtly manipulative, using her sexuality as a weapon against her husbands in order to force the husband to provide for her. She cruelly accuses her husband of ingratitude and withholding sex to extra ct gifts from her husbands. â€Å"Blessed be god that I have married five, and always, for the money in his chest†. (Chaucer 44-45) nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Wife of bath feels that men should obey her. She should not be controlled or told what to do by others, especially by a man. Instead she wants to control them and tell them what to do. She displays a very sick and power-thirsty attitude when she says, â€Å"My husband shall enjoy it night and morrow whenever it pleases him to pay his debt. A husband, though-I’ve not been thwarted yet-Shall always be my debtor and my slave.† (Chaucer 159-161). The wife of bath believes that experience is the greatest authority, and since she has been married five times, she certainly considers herself as an authority on the husbands. â€Å"Experience, though all authority† (Chaucer 1) Her husbands fell into two categories. The first category of husbands were: rich, but also old and unable to fulfill her sexual needs. The other husbands were sexually vigorous, but harder to control. The first three were rich, old, and jealous. She tamed them by accusing them of promiscuous behaviorShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Wife of Bath by Geoffery Chaucer1019 Words   |  5 PagesThe Wife of Bath nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The Wife of Bath, or Alison, is a worldly woman. Not only has she traveled the world, she has experienced the world, in the sexual manner. Alison herself states this at the beginning of her tale, â€Å"Were there no books at all on the subject, my own experience gives me a perfect right to talk of the sorrows of marriage . . . I’ve married five husbands . . . .†(Chaucer 174). 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Some of them that help prove Chaucer’s fact to be true are: â€Å"The Wife of Bath Tale† and her version of living day-by-day with different husbandsRead MoreWife of Bath vs. the Pardoners1251 Words   |  6 PagesCharlott e Stern Period 6 March 30,2012 Wife of Bath vs. The Pardoners Geoffery Chaucers The Canterbury Tales is an example of an extremely complicated and wondrous piece of fictional work. The main story lines plot is a contest between a diverse group of pilgrims on their way to Thomas Beckets shrine. in order to win the contest the pilgrim must tell â€Å"tales of best sentence and moost solaas,†, which means the stories must be filled with moral and entertainment to win the feast. EvenRead MoreRole of Women in Sir Gawain and The Green Knight and The Wife of Bath’s Tale1651 Words   |  7 PagesIn the Middle Ages, the roles of women became less restricted and confined and women became more opinionated and vocal. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight presents Lady Bertilak, the wife of Sir Bertilak, as a woman who seems to possess some supernatural powers who seduces Sir Gawain, and Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale, present women who are determined to have power and gain sovereignty over the men in their lives. Th e female characters are very openly sensual and honest aboutRead MoreLiterture Final Exam Notes1143 Words   |  5 Pages wyrd: fate; destiny Canterbury Tales CT pilgrimage was from London to Canterbury. 31# travelers were to tell 4# stories each on the journey. Purpose was ______________________. Characters from CT: Wife of Bath, Knight, Miller, Pardoner, Parson, Host of the Tabard Inn. †¢ Wife of Bath: gap-toothed woman; had 5 husbands; wears red; handsome; confident †¢ Knight: a gentlemen who represents chivalry and honor †¢ Miller: red-head, braen with no brains, cheats on the grain scales; tells tavern