Paper Topic:

The Wife of Bath

Critical Approaches : The Wife of Bath

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400 ) was an English author , poet , philosopher courtier as well as a diplomat . Sometimes referred to as the father of English literature , the man is most famous for The Canterbury Tales Chaucer 's major works also include the translation of Roman de la Rose The Book of the Duchess The House of Fame Anelida and Arcite The Parliament of Fowls the translation of Boethius ' Consolation of Philosophy as Boece Troilus and Criseyde The Legend of Good Women and the Treatise on the Astrolabe (Geoffrey

Chaucer , 2007

Being a well-rounded intellectual , Chaucer was aware of the gender stereotypes permeating his medieval society . As a matter of fact , men of the Middle Ages deeming marriage a full great sacrament ' took most seriously the woman 's promise to honor and obey ' The slightest breach of this vow of obedience was hailed as a crying offense to both God and man . The principal vice of the medieval times was pride Disobedience was but an offshoot of this self same vice . And so obedience was due not only unto God and one 's parents , but , as the old phrase went , to husbands and other benefactors and sovereigns Women were known to be subjected to men , and there was not as much thought poured over women 's equal right to manage affairs . Thus , we find in medieval literature instances such as the ones briefly touched on by Frederick Tupper (1968 ) in Types of Society in Medieval Literature

An old Parisian benedict of the fourteenth century , playing mentor to his young

bride offsets Petrarch 's story of the obedient Griselda with the example of a wife

rightly burned for the disobedience into which she was led by her pride - quite as

CRITICAL APPROACHES : THE WIFE OF BATH

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grievous an offense this , so he tells us many times , as the fault of Eve or of Lucifer

It was during this period that Chaucer chose to represent his woman in literature - the Wife of Bath - as an extraordinary lady who believed in subjecting her men to her desires . The lady is open to express her views about a different role that women can play despite the essential gender stereotypes of medieval society . The Wife of Bath has control of her husbands ' property , presumably acquired through successive marriage settlements . She therefore has no need to make efforts to her mates , if such efforts would have given her greater authority over her men in terms of wealth or pleasure . According to her Prologue , her first three husbands had bad luck in bed ' for which they are chided by her . The woman would demand payment in bed , in return for which she would make payment (sexually ) of the marriage debt she owed them (Nelson , 2002 . Knowing that all medieval women do not behave like her when it comes to controlling their husbands ' property or getting money out of them , the Wife of Bath is asking young girls to back...

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