Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale - 1379 Words

â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Tale† in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a story about a widow who took a pilgrimage to the town of Canterbury with an array of dynamic characters whose diverse backgrounds allowed them to share their stories with one another to make the long journey more interesting. The widow named Alison in the The Wife of Bath’s Tale told the tale of her experiences with her five past husbands and a story about a knight and a witch. She truly believed that for a woman to have a happy life she would need to gain dominion over a man; however one could assume this was programmed into her by her influential mother and her own religious doctrines. Accordingly, Alison argued that the woman must control everything in order†¦show more content†¦By God! on earth I by his purgatory, for which I hope his soul’s in Paradise† (Chaucer, 231). The fifth marriage meant the most to her because she felt the most attraction and love for him. In order to entice him into being with her, the widow Alison offered all the property and money she possessed. Although she was twenty years older than her fifth husband the scholar, he dominated their relationship by restricting her actions and hoarding the finances, while also physically abusing her on a regular basis. The widow explains, â€Å"That, though he’d beaten me on every bone, how quickly he could win my love again! I think that I loved him the best, for he was ever chary of his love for me† (Chaucer, 232). Furthermore, the fifth husband would continuously ignored his wife in favor of books on the actions of wicked women. By the fourth and fifth husband her relationship with men had changed and she was in the place her first three husbands had been with her. In relation to the matrimonies the widow had with her previous husband’s, the tale told by her on the pilgrimage to Canterbury was about how dominance played a key role in the outcome of the Knight and a Witch. A knight in the court of King Arthur committed the unspeakable crime of the rape on an unsuspecting young maiden by the side of the road. As a punishment, KingShow MoreRelatedThe Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Essay1115 Words   |  5 Pages The Canterbury Tales is a set of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the fourteenth century. The stories were told by a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral, in hopes to see a shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. To make time go by the host recommended each pilgrim tell a tale. The tale that each character gives, reveals that person’s background and life. Some pilgrims matched their stereotype of that time but most do not. The Prioress, Madame Eglentyne, and Wife of Bath, Allison, areRead MoreChaucers The Canterbury Tales1381 Words   |  6 PagesThe Canterbury Tales serves as a moral manual in the Middle Ages. In the tales, Geoffrey Chaucer portrays the problems of the society. 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In most classic Western beliefs it began when Eve with the help of the Devil seduced Adam thus leading the downfall of humanity into an abyss of sin and hopelessness. This issue arises in all literature from Genesis, Chaucer and into modern day. Authors, clerks and writers of all types have aided stereotyping women throughout history and Geoffrey Chaucer is not