Wife Of Bath's Tale Christianity Essay

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is an anthology that describes the journeys and life lessons of several characters. However, it isn’t just an entertaining collection of stories, instead it is a clear representation of the society Chaucer was a part of. Society during this time primarily focused on religion, specifically Christianity. Christianity which can be seen as a sexist religion, generally affected women and the roles they played. Two of Chaucer’s character’s discuss and touch on this idea. In the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale we are introduced to Alisoun, a woman who undermines the power Christianity holds and starts to follow her own beliefs and tries to gain control over her own life. The other story is “The Prioress’s Tale” where we meet Madame Eglantine who, unlike Alisoun, submits to Christianity,
But is that true? When closely analyzed and thoroughly read, specific parts make it seem as though the opposite is happening, that the Prioress resists and the Wife of Bath submits. The Prioress resist subconsciously, which affects not only her personality but her appearance, when it comes to the Wife of Bath she submits by allowing her sexual desire to be the only thing that allows her to have a purpose and some type of control in a relationship. This clear binary opposition causes a restriction, that sort of warps one's mentality, making them believe that they are doing one thing while they are doing another, allowing us to view Christianity as something that restrict and control women.
The Wife of Bath, also known as Alison is a proto-feminist, and when first looked at is seen as a woman who is fighting for women and their role in society, which is to be seen as a dominant gender. However, she still submits to the