Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay - The Strong Wife of Bath

The 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 Baths personality, philosophy of sexuality, and attitude toward sovereignty in marriage obviously are offered as comedy. When Chaucers short poem addressed to Bukton, who is about to marry, recommends that he read the Wife of Bath regarding The sorwe†¦show more content†¦To the Clerks tale, Harry Bailly exclaims, By Goddes bones,/ Me were levere than a barel ale/ My wyf at hoom had herd this legende ones! (iv.1212 bd). There is also the Merchants diatribe in his prologue, which follows all this, that he knows well about the woes of marriage after two months of it. This begins: Wepyng and waylyng, care and oother sorwe I knowe ynogh, on even and a-morwe, Quod the Marchant, and so doon other mo That wedded been. I trowe that it be so, For wel I woot it fareth so with me. I have a wyf, the worste that may be; For thogh the feend to hire ycoupled were, She wolde hym overmacche, I dar wel swere. (Iv .121320) Nor is Chaucers persona silent on the subject in this vein, for, in an aside concerning the voice of his vehicular eagle in the House of Fame, he quotes, with an innuendo most scholars since Skeat have taken as domestic, `Awak, to me he sayde,/ Ryght in the same vois and stevene/That useth oon I koude nevene (ii.56062). If this is supposed to be a jest at the voice of his nagging wife, why do we find at the end of the Clerks tale the piece identified as Lenvoy de Chaucer, encouraging archwives to be strong as camels, slender ones to be like tigers, in not allowing men to do them offense? These women are advised: Ne dreed hem nat; doth hem no reverence, For though thyn housbonde armed beShow MoreRelated Passive Women in Chaucers Canterbury Tales? Essay1466 Words   |  6 PagesPassive Women in Chaucers Canterbury Tales? One argument that reigns supreme when considering Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is whether or not there is an element of anti-feminism within the text. One thread that goes along with this is whether or not the women of The Canterbury Tales are passive within the tales told. 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