Marriage In The Wife Of Bath's Tale
Amina Iskandarova
Professor Mwenze
English 102 AC 71
March 19, 2015
Marriage Tales
In the middle ages, marriage represented a shift in the balance of power for both men and women. Struggling to define what constitutes the ideal marriage in medieval society, the marriage group of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales attempts to reconcile the ongoing battle for sovereignty between husband and wife. Existing hierarchies restricted women; therefore, marriage fittingly presented more obstacles for women. Chaucer creates the dynamic personalities of the Wife of Bath and the Merchant to debate marriage intelligently while citing their experiences within marriage in their prologues.
In the Prologue the Wife of Bath gives an account of her colorful …show more content…
January chooses is depicted as voiceless and powerless in the matter of his decision since she does not have a voice for most of the tale; however, despite the power arrangement, neither the husband nor the wife profits from the union based upon January’s and May’s circumstances at the end of tale; January is duped by his wife, and May is forced to remain married to a man.
The Merchant has experienced marriage firsthand and has had his idealistic expectations of the perfect wife taken from him long ago. His version of marriage is as crude as the Wife of Bath’s, but from a man’s point of view; however, unlike the Wife of Bath, the Merchant includes infidelity by the wife in his tale. The Merchant demonstrates his ethos in his prologue by boasting of his experience with marriage and the pain and sorrow that has resulted, unlike the Wife of Bath, which expresses joy over the life she has lived and seems completely satisfied with all that took place. In conclusion, both of the tales ended with a happily ever after. Back in Middle Ages era women had power over their men. No matter of age and circumstances they could overcome any problems that have occurred with their husbands. I think that every woman today should be like Alyson, from Wife of Bath’s and like May, from Merchants
Professor Mwenze
English 102 AC 71
March 19, 2015
Marriage Tales
In the middle ages, marriage represented a shift in the balance of power for both men and women. Struggling to define what constitutes the ideal marriage in medieval society, the marriage group of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales attempts to reconcile the ongoing battle for sovereignty between husband and wife. Existing hierarchies restricted women; therefore, marriage fittingly presented more obstacles for women. Chaucer creates the dynamic personalities of the Wife of Bath and the Merchant to debate marriage intelligently while citing their experiences within marriage in their prologues.
In the Prologue the Wife of Bath gives an account of her colorful …show more content…
January chooses is depicted as voiceless and powerless in the matter of his decision since she does not have a voice for most of the tale; however, despite the power arrangement, neither the husband nor the wife profits from the union based upon January’s and May’s circumstances at the end of tale; January is duped by his wife, and May is forced to remain married to a man.
The Merchant has experienced marriage firsthand and has had his idealistic expectations of the perfect wife taken from him long ago. His version of marriage is as crude as the Wife of Bath’s, but from a man’s point of view; however, unlike the Wife of Bath, the Merchant includes infidelity by the wife in his tale. The Merchant demonstrates his ethos in his prologue by boasting of his experience with marriage and the pain and sorrow that has resulted, unlike the Wife of Bath, which expresses joy over the life she has lived and seems completely satisfied with all that took place. In conclusion, both of the tales ended with a happily ever after. Back in Middle Ages era women had power over their men. No matter of age and circumstances they could overcome any problems that have occurred with their husbands. I think that every woman today should be like Alyson, from Wife of Bath’s and like May, from Merchants