Cantebury Tales - Relation Of Wife Of Bath To Contemporary Women Essay

Hundreds of centuries before the fourteenth century, during it and yet stable after, civilization, led by the educated theologians, politicians and whoever else made up the ruling class, women were looked at as the Devils every(prenominal)y a sensual and profitless creature who was a constant bearer of sin and the cause of or so of mans misfortune. Women then and now may look upon or so of these devilish lawsuitistics as desirable, powerful-willed and feministic. Chaucer appears to support women and specific in all in ally these devilish feminists by creating devil very ardent-willed and successful women in the married woman of clean and the old hag in the Wifes chronicle. However, by all of the tough outer attributes, on the inside are the same uncorrupted and traditional damsels in distress that require a man adept like the women of that time always had. Through the original strong qualities of the two women, Chaucer provides a hopeful example and model for women o f now and then. Furthermore, by self-aggrandising these women some stronger, domineering and masculine features Chaucer is terrifically satirizing the gender roles and stereotypes of the time. Along with all of these strong feminist messages also come out anti-feminism ideals about guardianship women in a certain role, causing a lengthy and bright debate upon what Chaucer really meant. All of these reasons are why it is important to cover and understand The Wife of Baths relation and influence on contemporary women. Chaucers main target of his satirical wit and reprehension throughout his Canterbury Tales is the Anglo-Saxon church and even though in this tale he focuses more on the gender debate his fiery pass up and contempt of the corrupt church and its disciples is embodied in the Wifes prologues first three lines Experience, though no authority, Were in this world, were good sufficiency for me, To speak of woe that is in all marriage Here Chaucer, through the eyes of a wom en, points out that there is far too some(prenominal) reliance on authority, meaning the opinions of older and perhaps ancient writers. This consort of authority was responsible for the horrible distortion of womans character and place in society and thus Chaucer felt his satirical and critical attack about love in marriage was necessary. Chaucer does it through the Wife of Bath as a medium to reach the hopelessly unintellectual women of the time should they hear of the tale. The Wife o... ...When he had leisure and took some vacation, From all his other worldly occupation, To read, within this book, of wicked wives. His reading of wicked wives and distinctly anti-feminist literature is a perfect example of she no longer having oblige as is her husbands statement A woman fair, save she be continent also, Is like a ring of gold in a sows nose. By this he means a fair and good woman is no more than an ornament or accessory to her man. Clearly if he was beingness mastered by a woman he would not support statements such as these. The Wife of Bath, Dame Alice, portrays and exhibits numerous qualities of a strong and confident woman and an unknown feminist. Furthermore, these characteristics are what women nowadays point to as Chaucers bravery to point out and criticize the unfair interference of women over the centuries and eras. Unfortunately for them, Chaucer was not quite as brilliant and mod as contemporary women would like to think. As evident with the hypocrisy showed by the Wife of Bath. In conclusion, The Wife of Bath definitely has some strong positive messages for contemporary women and even yet he deeper shows them what not to do with the hypocrisy of the Wife.