The Wife of Bath does not seem to be a favorite of his, although he seems to like her figure he seems not to like her personality. You would almost think of her as a husband killer as she had five husbands and each of them died, and quickly after she remarried. She seems to be a modern day black widow. Her face was bold and she always wore large hats, perhaps to hides her tentacles. She had large rolling hips and seems to be appealing. Chaucer does not seem to be particularly against her he just seems to be annoyed wit her her all together. His style of writing changes when he speaks of her, as though she is an offensive type of female.
The Friar is a man who does not care about his fellow humans. He is an immoral man and cares only about himself and his fortune. Although he could have a large fortune he squanders his money on things of no importance. He becomes a beggar and does no one any good. He is a sore on the community's heel. Chaucer shows his dislike by the way he describes him as an "immoral man concerned largely with profit rather than turning men away from sin. His tale is an attack on the wickedness of summonses".
The cook is a man who has violent tendencies towards others. Although Chaucer says he could cook anything under the sun and was excellent at distinguishing ale. His physical ailments were that of an ulcer (sore) on his knee. The ulcer on his knee seems to mean he is an ulcer, sore, growth on the community and although he has his good points the bad weigh out the good.
In closing Chaucer chose his words carefully but does not seem to mind how they might offend anyone. Chaucer is a bold man but hides behind the fact that his literature will not get him in trouble for stating his opinions. I think these three are the characters Chaucer disliked the most.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Chaucer's Wife of Bath is one of the most amazing characters in English Literature. She is a strong, clever, independent woman who knows what she likes and usually gets it. She is lusty and not shy about it. She exposes and mocks misogyny in various ways, showing just how misogynistic medieval society was. However, although her strong willed nature and mockery of this patriarchy is apparent, as an audience we still remain confused, and discover aspects of her characteristics and journey, which show that perhaps she is still trapped in this ideal male dominated world. The Wife of Bath, Alison is represented as a rare and unique woman in the initial portrayal of her in the prologue, but at the end of her prologue, the Wife of Bath succumbs to the pressure of society, conforms and becomes the medieval wife.…
- 1594 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
When writing, authors often know how they want to portray their characters, like if they want the person to stand for a greater meaning or to exist simply for ridicule. But some authors fall short of this mark and create wishy-washy figures that neither prove nor disprove an idea. This is the case with Chaucer and his portrayal of the Wife of Bath. The writer neither ridicules the woman for her multiple marriages nor does he use her to ridicule the gender norms of the time.…
- 86 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
While the Wife of Bath dissents from patriarchal ideas, Chaucer still feels as though he must stifle her more scathing criticisms with excuses that place the woman in the…
- 1400 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Showing her rank by her elegant clothes and red stocking, also eluding that she is likes her lovers. Wife of Bath is the opposite of the Nun loud and modern, not what a woman should be by their standards. Chaucer’s states, “There was a good WIFE OF beside BATH, /But she was somewhat deaf, and that was a pity. / Her kerchiefs were very fine in texture; /… Her stockings were of fine scarlet red, / Very closely laced, and shoes very supple and new. / She was a worthy woman all her life:/ She had (married) five husbands at the church door, /She knew, as it happened, about remedies for love / For she knew the old dance (tricks of the trade) of that art./ (Chaucer lines 445-476). Chaucer again eludes that she knows how to perform an abortion, “She knew about remedies for love” giving her rank as experienced and her behaviorism give air to a woman who can do what she pleases even though she had five husbands which was abnormal for the time…
- 1736 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Firstly, he uses the old woman in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” to break down the knight, by attacking his noble stature. Secondly, again Chaucer uses the old woman to degrade the knight by using her poverty, and his riches, against him. Lastly, the old woman critiques the knight about how poorly his treatment of her is, because of her age, and his neglect towards her for her being “hideous.” Chaucer created a very intricate system while writing “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” because of his usage of the wife of bath, who speaks the words of the old woman in the tale, to attack the patriarchy. He knew that if the attack came directly for him, he would be branded an atheist, for his challenge of Aristotle’s theory of the patriarchy, which is seen as normality. By using the three mouthpieces, he avoided the danger of being attacked himself, while still getting his point…
- 1444 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, Chaucer promotes a modern feministic perspective as he implements…
- 1530 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
David, Alfred. “Geoffrey Chaucer.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. Et. al. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton; 2006. 213-216. Print.…
- 1707 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Chaucer satirizes the Wife of Bath by describing her as overweight, gap toothed, and well-practiced in the art of love. She is a lady that travels the world to find pleasure and is confident about her knowledge of love and sexuality. By having five husbands and many lovers before them, she has learned to provide for herself through these experiences. The Wife of Bath is a strong willed, woman of passion that desires to be more powerful than her man or lover. She is a woman of character that knows what she wants and continuously fights against male dominance.…
- 726 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
When one thinks of a monk, he may imagine someone who studies, prays, and performs manual labor. The Monk, one of the thirty pilgrims travelling on a pilgrimage to Canterbury in The Canterbury Tales, is nothing like the usual monk many people imagine. He is rebellious, ignores rules, and lives and controls his own life. Chaucer, the narrator and author of The Canterbury Tales, shows these characteristics in the way the Monk looks, the things he says and does, and in the things the host, a character in "The Monk's Prologue," and Chaucer say about him.…
- 746 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
As represented through her lengthy prologue, much of what Chaucer wishes to expose to his audience is first introduced with the main character: the Wife Of Bath. The Wife Of Bath has the clear opinion that it is innate for women to deceive; she says “…God has given women by nature deceit, weeping, and spinning, as long as they live…” (313). Her power to manipulate those around her never fails; she is able to control her…
- 1215 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Geoffrey Chaucer was an interesting person. He was a writer, a poet and a diplomat. However, he was most known for his series of stories, The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales are a mix of stories that featured a lot of different people of a lot of different backgrounds who all share the same goal, go to Canterbury. These tales differ greatly, in terms of subject matter and characters, some talk about love while others talk about war. The Art of Courtly Love dominated the ideals of love, while The Knights Code of Chivalry was the predominant way of thinking of warriors. Many of Chaucer’s tales deal with these two sets of thinking, thus different characters deal with them in different ways. Chaucer’s characters are not a product of the times, as they disprove stereotypes and have no need to follow guidelines set by The Knights Code of Chivalry and The Art of Courtly Love.…
- 1296 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, many characters go on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. On the way to Canterbury, each person on the journey tells a tale. Whoever tells the best story, gets rewarded a lavish free meal. The pilgrimage includes people from the nobility, clergy, and commoner class. For each class, Chaucer develops many different character types that were representative of the society of the time. With a broad spectrum of people and action, The Canterbury tales consists of many different ideas such as social satire, courtly love/ chivalry,morality, and corruption and deceit. One of the most important ideas of the story is that Chaucer puts forward a criteria that…
- 1909 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Geoffery Chaucer has gone into such depth to describe the characters in Canterbury Tales. He focuses on their immoral character, physical appearance, and their main purpose. Many of Chaucer’s stories parallel with each other acknowledging the sinful nature of the characters. The comparison of the three stories “Miller’s Tale, Pardoner’s Tale, and The Wife of Bath Tale”, will show how immoral can sometimes bring moral values into a person’s life. Immorality plays a big role in all three stories reflecting sinful and immoral acts: rape, adultery, and falsification.…
- 368 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
She is able to exploits them so that she can behave as she wishes, gaining her with full control over the man and the marriage. The Wife of Bath also forces her husbands to work extra hard in the bedroom, exhorting them to satisfy her, as well as straining them so their lives will be short lived. She is quite horrible to them, causing and creating great desperation to try and please her, which then in turn keeps them interested. She behaves this way due to her misandrious and independent personality providing her with all the dominance. She is a “wise woman” in the sense that she doesn’t have to make an effort as she has them in the palm of her hand. She’s an exceptional woman in all senses, being capable to defy the gender expectations, which in turn makes her a very intriguing character due to how she also cannot be tied down, as she is a free spirit. By treating the husbands how they would generally treat the wives, she is establishing power over them. The Wife of Bath is a modern woman, she doesn’t allow to have her life controlled by men, she has the power of her own life; 700 to 800 years ago it was remarkable that she even had these points and had the independence to assert this amount of dominance. Chaucer is going completely counter the stereotypical ideals men would have of women, she is a challenging, difficult woman who speaks boldly and likes to speak her mind, however she literally never gets to the point and doesn’t stop speaking, so almost immediately Chaucer gives in to the stereotypes and just amplifying them as well as suppressing them, in this confusing way at portraying how even though she is like all the other women in aspects, she is also very rare due to her controlling, sovereign…
- 1767 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
He is described as having a "garland set upon his head," leading the reader into believing he is a homosexual. He allows men to commit sins, like adultery, without punishment as long as they paid him. Usually he took his payments in the form of wine, but also accepted cash. "Why he'd allow -just for a quart of wine- / any good lad to keep a concubine/ a twelvemonth!" He was very corrupt, a common theme in Chaucer's clergy. By accepting bribes to keep his mouth shut, he was essentially blackmailing the men of the community, instead of telling someone like he was supposed to. As his description says he "Sang deep seconds to [the Pardoner's] song," a love song. He has a deep voice, and is singing harmony to the Pardoner, suggesting their relationship is more than business related. Homosexuality was almost a sin in the Middle Ages, but for one who was supposed to make other pay for their sins he had a propensity for disregarding them. "As he pleased the man could bring duress/ on any young fellow in the diocese/ he knew their secrets, they did what he said." He held them in fear of being cursed, and leave them no hope for salvation, by dangling their sins over their heads. So they must do as he says. A Medieval man is not supposed to cause others harm, but try to help them. In fact, his job was to try to save them by making sure they atoned for…
- 834 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays