Essay on Summary and Analysis of The Wife of Baths Tale

Summary and Analysis of The Wife of Baths Tale Prologue to the Wife of Baths Tale: The Wife of Bath begins the prologue to her tale by boasting of her experience in marriage. She has married five men already, and ignores the idea that this is a reproach to Christian principles. She is merely adhering to the Christian principle of be fruitful and multiply. She cites the case of King Solomon, who had multiple wives, and tells the group that she welcomes the opportunity for her sixth husband. She also points out that Jesus never lays down a law about virginity, and essentially states that we have the parts for sex and should use them as such. The Pardoner objects to the Wife of Baths musings on marriage, but she decides to tell†¦show more content†¦She complains that the stories in the Bible that denigrate women are written by monks who have no experience with them, and that the stories would be far different if women were to write them. After Jankin struck her, she appeared dead, but when she revived he was so penitent that he ceded all authority in the marr iage to her. From that point onward she was kind to him, for he had given her what she truly wanted. Analysis The Wife of Bath is perhaps the most fully realized character in the Canterbury Tales. Headstrong, boisterous and opinionated, she wages a perpetual struggle against the denigration of women and the taboos against female sexuality. She issues a number of rebuttals against strict religious claims for chastity and monogamy, using Biblical examples including Solomon to show that the Bible does not overtly condemn all expressions of sexuality, even outside of marriage. Those who use religious texts to argue for the submission of women are the most fervent targets of scorn for the Wife of Bath. She claims that the reason for the bias against women in these texts is due to the lack of experience and contact with women of those who write the text. It is this antipathy to intellectual arguments against femininity that causes her to tear the pages from Jankins book. The Wife of Baths crusade to prove the worth of women does open the prologue to modern interpretations that reconfigure the Wife of Bath as a feministShow MoreRelatedThe Wife Of Bath, By William Chaucer2261 Words   |  10 Pages(Chaucer 183). The Wife of Bath is portrayed as a very flamboyant and domineering character. She enjoys things such as romance, traveling, and talking. The Wife of Bath is a feminist who depicts through her tale her radical belief that women should have dominion over their husbands. As shown in the opening quotation, the Wife of Bath is not afraid to admit that she had experienced five marriages. The Wife of Bath’s radical beliefs are demonstrated through the phylogeny in â€Å"The Wife of Bath PrologueRead MoreEssay about Common Sense, Ethics, and Dogma in The Wife of Bath3354 Words   |  14 PagesSense, Ethics, and Dogma in The Wife of Bath In his Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer assembles a band of pilgrims who, at the behest of their host, engage in a story-telling contest along their route. The stories told along the way serve a number of purposes, among them to entertain, to instruct, and to enlighten. In addition to the intrinsic value of the tales taken individually, the tales in their telling reveal much about the tellers. The pitting of tales one against another provides aRead MoreThe Canterbury Tales By Geoffrey Chaucer1989 Words   |  8 PagesFather of English Literature born 1343 in London United Kingdom best known for his anthology â€Å"The Canterbury Tales†. In this book he plans to let each of his characters tell a story on the way to Canterbury. This novel was written during the Middle Ages also known as the Medieval Period. During this time period adultery played role in marriages. â€Å"I take thee _________ to be my wedded husband/wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse for richer, for poorer, in sickness and inRead More Summary and Analysis of The Friars Tale Essay992 Words   |  4 PagesSummary and Analysis of The Friars Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Friars Tale: The Friar commends the Wife of Bath for her tale, and then says that he will tell a tale about a summoner. He does not wish to offend the Summoner who travels with them, but insists that summoners are known for lewd behavior. The Summoner does not take offense, but does indicate that he will repay the Friar in turn. The job of the Summoner to which the Friar objects is to issue summons from the churchRead MoreEssay on Canterbury Tales: Wifes Tale2555 Words   |  11 Pages 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 theRead More Summary and Analysis of The Merchants Tale Essay example1744 Words   |  7 PagesSummary and Analysis of The Merchants Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Merchants Tale: The merchant claims that he knows nothing of long-suffering wives. Rather, if his wife were to marry the devil, she would overmatch even him. The Merchant claims that there is a great difference between Griseldes exceptional obedience and his wifes more common cruelty. The Merchant has been married two months and has loathed every minute of it. The Host asks the Merchant to tell a tale of hisRead More Summary and Analysis of The Man of Laws Tale Essay1913 Words   |  8 PagesSummary and Analysis of The Man of Laws Tale Fragment II The Words of the Host to the Company and Prologue to the Man of Laws Tale: The host speaks to the rest of the travelers, telling them that they can regain lost property but not lost time. The host suggests that the lawyer tell the next tale, and he agrees to do so, for he does not intend to break his promises. He says that we ought to keep the laws we give to others. He even refers to Chaucer, who works ignorantly and writes poorlyRead MoreFigurative Language and the Canterbury Tales13472 Words   |  54 Pagesones. Often this term is used interchangeably with both the literary technique and the larger story itself that contains the smaller ones, which are called framed narratives or embedded narratives. The most famous example is Chaucers Canterbury Tales, in which the overarching frame narrative is the story of a band of pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The band passes the time in a storytelling contest. The framed narratives are the individual stories told by theRead MoreEssay on â€Å"The Nun’s Priest’s Tale†: An Analysis2247 Words   |  9 Pagesof the Nun’s Priest. Only in the prologue to his tale do we finally get a glimpse of who he might be, albeit rather obtusely. As Harry Bailey rather disparagingly remarks: â€Å"Telle us swich thyng as may oure hertes glade./Be blithe, though thou ryde upon a jade† (p.235, ll2811-2812). I say this cautiously because much criticism has surrounded the supposed character of the Nun’s Priest, his role in the tale, and his relationship to the Canterbury Tales as a whole. One example, in my opinion, of an unsatisfactory