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Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath” Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath”

Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath” - PowerPoint Presentation

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Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath” - PPT Presentation

Historical Background Women Very passive societal role inferiorobedient to males Physicalemotional abuse Had occupations Tradeswomen Baker Shopkeeper Etc Peasants wives worked fields ID: 420126

wife woman knight husband woman wife husband knight women tale husbands married story marriage bath wives jankyn young ugly

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Slide1

Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath”Slide2

Historical Background- Women

Very passive societal role; inferior/obedient to malesPhysical/emotional abuseHad occupations-

TradeswomenBaker

Shopkeeper

Etc.

(Peasant’s wives- worked fields)Women also had household dutiesSlide3

Historical Background (cont)Gave up all wealth and rights to husband in marriageSome joined nunneries/convents

Widows- 1/3 of husband’s propertyMarried women covered hair with linen clothSlide4

The Wife of Bath’s Tale

1. The Wife of Bath’s tale

--opposite of the Clerk’s Tale. It represents wifely dominance, or “

maistrye

,”

whereas the Clerk’s tale describes wifely obedience.

2. The Wife of Bath’s Tale is about transformation. An old hag becomes, through magic, young and beautiful; a nasty arrogant youth is turned, through

a

lecture by the hag, into a husband who takes other’s wishes more into account. Slide5

3. Wife’s tale argues for social transformation

–the rich should act with virtue, not arrogance, and

the poor should see their state as a blessed opportunity for spiritual wellbeing.Slide6

From the Prologue, we find out…Her name is Alison She is an authority

on marriage, thanks to experienceShe makes selective Biblical references-

virgins, be forth and multiply, many wivesSexual powerPardoner interruptsSlide7

C. Marriage as Business Transaction and Battleground

Says one husband,

Jankyn, tried to kill her for “my

land”

reveals

her view of marriage as a purely business transaction; love is irrelevant

perhaps recognizes

that as an elderly

widow,

her main attraction is her wealth.Slide8

D. Experience versus Authority

Wife says she places HER trust in experience, not authority she has

been married since she was twelve and “housbondes at chirche

dore

I have had fyve.” Slide9

The “Good” HusbandsShe had three of themRich

, old, and submissiveTormentsTell liesBribesSlide10

4th HusbandHad a mistressLost her youth

Tried to make him jealousDied on a pilgrimage Slide11

Jankyn Loved himForbiddenmet while still married to 4th

husbandHalf her ageMutual abuse- mental and physicalbook of wicked wivesLost hearingSlide12

The fight between the Wife and Jankyn is a literal battle between the

sexesshe refuses to be cowed by the citation of these

authorities on “wifely” behavior refuses to be degraded or psychologically battered into

submission

She

literally strikes a blow

(

hits him with the book)

for

herself and for her sex too. Slide13

AllusionsIncubi- got woman pregnantOvid’s Midashas two donkey's ears

Hidden from everyone except his wifeTold the secretBarberSlide14

Fairies, elves and incubi  friars and mendicant

Visited at nightSlide15

Ovid’s story of Midas

Says it was his wife (not his barber)Slide16

Allusions (cont.)King Arthur’s court- code of chivalryPtolemy's Almagest- mentions erroneous factJohn Gower- version of the same tale that was

moral of the folk tale- is that true beauty lies withinWife of Bath message- ugly or fair, women should be obeyed in all things by their husbands.Slide17

Knight raped womanGiven one chance to save his life

Discover what woman want most in the world

The Wife’s Tale begins….Slide18

Heads towards group of women  one old woman

Says he must pledge himself to herSlide19

What DO women want?Slide20

women most desire to be in charge of their husbands and lovers asks the knight to marry her Slide21

Shame at an ugly. old wifeNoble character hereditary?Slide22

Either ugly and

loyal?Young and

unfaithful?

The Little MermaidSlide23

What has the Knight learned?By trusting her judgment=both

beautiful and loyalSlide24

Mockery- clergyChrist went only once to a wedding at CanaJesus told the Samaritan woman that her 5th

husband was not her husbandOld Testament figures, like Abraham, Jacob, and Solomon, enjoyed multiple wives at onceGod wants us to multiplySome one needs to produce the virgins

Misuse of scripturesSlide25

Role of Mendid he truly respect for the old woman or learned how to supply her with the correct answer?idealistic or cynical character, inclined to mistrust all men

Shallow transformationsPunishment for rapeSlide26

Role of WomenContrast in society over the roles of womandanger of encountering an incubusmatriarchal society- Arthur's queen

Only woman can save himAntifeminism in the Church woman characterized as monsters

abandoned the male’s sovereignty in favor of the woman’s rule Slide27

Full SummaryThe Wife of Bath’s, whose real name is Alison, tale begins with a lengthy prologue detailing her previous life. She claims to be an authority on marriage, thanks in great part to her great experience with it. She has been married times since her first marriage when she was 12. Many people have criticized her for this, supporting their criticism with biblical evidence. In response, she starts to cite scripture passages that she believes support her and her marriages. For example, she says that many patriarchs from the Old Testament had multiple wives. She then appeals to the reader’s sense of reason. Virgins may be holy, but some must reproduce in order to be the parents of these virgins. She then dubs her own gift to be her sexual power over her husbands.

After a brief interruption from one of the other pilgrims, she continues her story by recalling her marriage to her first 3 husbands. She describes them as good, mostly because they were submissive to her will. They were old and rich, and she recaps how she psychologically tortured them in order to get what she wanted. She would tell lies to her husband in order to make them compliant and to give her money.Slide28

Alison then goes into her description of her two later husbands, whom she dubs as bad. She views them as bad because they were younger and wilder when she married them, so they were not as submissive to her. Her 4th husband had a mistress, and made her go dancing with him. It was with him that she lost her youth. While she was still married to him, she met. Jankyn. She lied to him, telling her that she dreamed of him, but he tells her that she will not marry him unless she is widowed. Her 4th husband dies when on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but she is not sad because she already has her next husband lined up.

Jankyn, who becomes her 5th husband, is different then her previous . She marries him for love and he was poor. He always won her back when she was angry, and she desired him when he was forbidden to her (when she was still married). He had a book of bad wives that he liked to torture her with. She rips pages out of the book and hits Jankyn, who then hits her head. This leads to her becoming deaf in one ear. She teases him by saying she wants to kiss him, and then simply hit him again. He then agrees to sign over his estate to her.Slide29

The tale begins with a reference to faries and incubi. Incubi were mythical creatures that were said to impregnate woman in their sleep. The Wife of Bath says that the incubis have become the friars, raping woman just like the incubi once did, but not always getting them pregnant. Once, there was a knight from King Arthur’s court who saw a beautiful woman and rapes her. In this time, this crime was punishable by a beheading. He was saved, however by the women, including King Arthur’s queen. She proposes that the knight discover what woman want more than anything in one year in order to save his life.

The knight sets off in search of the answer, but every woman he talks to answers differently. The answers range from, money, to honor, to beauty, to sex, to the ability to do whatever they want. Some also say that they want to be considered secretive, though the Wife of Bath says that this is impossible, which is proven by Ovid’s story of Midas. Midas is a man who has ass’s ear underneath his hair. He begged his wife not to tell the story, but she could not keep the secret in so she went to a marsh and told his secret. If you want to hear the rest of the story, the Wife of Bath directs you to read Ovid.Slide30

After this diversion, the Wife of Bath continues with the story of the knight. He starts to ride home because his year time limit is almost up. On his way, he sees a group of woman, so he rides towards them. As he gets closer, the group disappears and there is only one old and ugly woman remains. She asks if she can be of assistance, and the knight promises her reward is she would help him. She agrees if he pledges himself to her. Seeing that he had no option, the man agrees and she promises to save his life. She tells him the answer, which he repeats to the silent court. The thing that woman desire more than anything else is to have sovereignty and mastery over their husbands. None of the woman of the court disagreed, so he is spared. The old woman then asks the knight to marry her as her repayment for saving his life. The horrified knight begs her to take his material possessions rather than his body. The Wife refuses, and he is forced to agree. The hag an the miserable knight are married and go to bed the same night.

The woman asks why he is so miserable, and he says that he is ashamed of having her as a wife. She replies, questioning whether noble character is able to be inherited. Though her own family is materially poor, she argues that true poverty is in wanting things. She then gives him options- she can remain old and ugly, yet good, or become young and pretty, yet unfaithful. After a while, he responds that he will rely on her judgment and she can choose. Because he gave women the sovereignty they wanted most, the woman because both young and loyal, and obedient to the knight. The Wife of Bath concludes the tale with a final stanza, asking Jesus to send all women young men who are vigorous in bed, and that that the women would outlive the men.Slide31

Citation:Created by Aileen Alber and

Emily Baumgaertner