Essay on Canterbury Tales Wifes Tale - 2555 Words

The Wife of Bath’s Tale In the magical days when England was ruled by King Arthur, a young Knight was riding home when he saw a beautiful young maiden walking all alone in the woods and raped her. Tnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;his outrageous act created a great stir and King Arthur was petitioned for justice. The Knight was condemned to death according to the law and would have been beheaded if the queen had not mediated on his behalf. After many pleas for mercy King Arthur finally told the queen to decide the Knight’s fate. The queen then told the Knight to answer the question what women desire the most in order to save his life. She also gave him a time period of one year to find an answer and appear before her. Seeing no other†¦show more content†¦The Knight married her secretly in the morning. When he went to bed with her he kept tossing and turning while she lay beside him. She reprimanded the Knight and asked him whether this behavior was customary among Knights who marry. The Knight couldn’t bear his misery any longer and replied that her hideousness, low birth and old age were the causes of his unease and distress. The old woman replied that she coul d rectify these things within three days provided he behaved courteously. She then proceeded to reprimand the Knight for his affectations. Gentility doesn’t come with noble birth but with good acts and a virtuous way of life. Only noble deeds determine gentility. As regards poverty, Christ himself willingly chose a life of poverty. She says that poverty is a hated boon and a great enhancer of wisdom. She then tells him that old age should always be respected. As regarding her loathsome appearance she tells the Knight that now he need not fear about being deceived. Old age and ugliness are in fact the best guards for protecting chastity. She then asks him whether he would prefer her ugly and faithful or beautiful and faithless. The Knight thinks for a moment and sighs that she may make the choice in their best interests. Delighted that she has gained quot;maistrequot; or sovereignty over him, she asks the Knight to kiss her. To the Knight’s utter joy she becomes young and beautiful. They live in perfect joy and harmony and she remained faithful toShow MoreRelated Canterbury Tales - Comparing Chaucers The Clerks Tale and The Wife of Bath Tale1963 Words   |  8 Pages In The Clerks Tale and The Wife of Baths Tale from Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales, characters are demanding, powerful and manipulating in order to gain obedience from others. From all of The Canterbury Tales, The Clerks Tale and The Wife of Baths Tale are the two most similar tales. These tales relate to each other in the terms of obedience and the treatment of women. The Wife of Bath Tale consists of one woman who has complete controlRead MoreChaucers Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath Essay837 Words   |  4 Pageshe weaves together tales of twenty nine different people on their common journey to Canterbury. Through their time on the road, these characters explore the diverse lives of those traveling together, narrated by the host of the group. Each character in the ensemble is entitled to a prologue, explaining his or her life and the reasons for the tale, as well as the actual story, meant to have moral implications or simply to entertain. One narrative in particular, that of the Wife of Bath, serves bothRead More Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay - Marriage in The Wife of Baths Prologue and Tale672 Words   |  3 PagesMarriage in Geoffrey Chaucers The Wife of Baths Prologue and Tale The disparity in the outcomes of the hags marriage and Alisons marriages in Geoffrey Chaucers The Wife of Baths Prologue and Tale depends in part on the womens differing expectations of their husbands. The hags modus agendi depends on a knights obligation to honour his pledge, whereas Alisons modus operandi depends on her husbands conduct after marriage, i.e. on her circumstances. Having saved the knights life, theRead More Wife of Bath in Chaecers Canterbury Tales Essay912 Words   |  4 Pages In the Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer the story tells about men and women going on pilgrimages, among them the Wife of Bath in search of her 6th husband, who go on a journey to pay their respect to Sir Thomas à ¡ Becket. During the story the Wife of Bath strongly expresses herself as a very strong woman and knows what she expects with the men shes with. As well as this, with all her beauty and respect she was given in life the Wife of Bath displays herself highly. Finally, she idealsRead More Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay - The Strong Wife of Bath1112 Words   |  5 PagesThe Strong Wife of Bath       Alison of Bath as a battered wife may seem all wrong, but her fifth husband, Jankyn, did torment her and knock her down, if not out, deafening her somewhat in the process. Nevertheless, the Wife of Bath got the upper hand in this marriage as she had done in the other four and as she would probably do in the sixth, which she declared herself ready to welcome. Alison certainly ranks high among women able to gain control over their mates.    The Wife of BathsRead More Canterbury Tales Essay - Sexuality in The Wife of Bath and the Pardoner1711 Words   |  7 PagesSexuality in The Wife of Bath and the Pardoner In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, an eclectic mix of people gathers together at Tabard Inn to begin a pilgrimage to Canterbury. In the General Prologue, the readers are introduced to each of these characters. Among the pilgrims are the provocative Wife of Bath and the meek Pardoner. These two characters both demonstrate sexuality, in very different ways. Chaucer uses the Wife and the Pardoner to examine sexuality in the medieval periodRead More Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay - The Powerful Wife of Bath1099 Words   |  5 PagesThe Powerful Wife of Bath   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Geoffrey Chacers The Canterbury Tales we are introduced to 29 people who are going on a pilgrimage to St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. Each person is represented to fit a unique type of behavior as shown by people during the medieval ages.   My attention was drawn to the Wife of Bath through which Chaucer notes the gender inequalities.   Predominantly, women could either choose to marry and become a childbearing wife or go intoRead MoreChaucer s Canterbury Tales And The Wife Of Bath s Tale1167 Words   |  5 Pagesalways tries to improve a part of society in a moral basis. The reason it targets a part of society is because didactic literature has an audience of origin that the moral applies to. For example, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: â€Å"The Wife of Bath s Prologue† and â€Å"The Wife of Bath s Tale† , which is written by Geoffrey Chaucer, takes place during the late 5th and early 6th century during King Arthur’s reign of Great Britain. During this era, society was structured in a totally different manner thanRead More Character Analysis of The Wife of Bath of Chaucers Canterbury Tales1623 Words   |  7 Pages Character Analysis of The Wife of Bath of Chaucers Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is Geoffrey Chaucers greatest and most memorable work. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses a fictitious pilgrimage [to Canterbury] as a framing device for a number of stories (Norton 79). In The General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer describes in detail the pilgrims he meets in the inn on their way to Canterbury. Chaucer is the author, but also a character and the narrator, and acts likeRead More Chaucers Canterbury Tales - Anti-Feminist Beliefs in Millers Tale and Wife of Baths Tale1536 Words   |  7 PagesAnti-Feminist Beliefs in The Millers Tale and The Wife of Baths Tale    The Millers Tale and The Wife of Baths Tale feature two characters that, though they may appear to be different, are actually very similar. They both seem to confirm the anti-feminine beliefs that existed at the time Chaucer wrote his Canterbury Tales. However, they go about it in different ways. Alison, the woman in The Millers Tale, tries to hide the fact that she has a passion for men other than her husband, and