In the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer makes fun of many aspects of medieval society. He shows how corrupt society was through the characters. The Pardoner sells fake relics and scams the poor. The Monk disobeys his vow of poverty and his vow to stay and pray in a monastery. The reeve steals from his master. Chaucer uses all these flawed characters to show different medieval ideas. One of these ideas is the relationship between men and women. The Clerk is unhappy with The Wife of Bath’s tale and presents a contrasting view of relationships between men and women in his tale.
The Wife of Bath claims that she is an authority on marriage. “Experience, though it would be no authority in this world, would be quite sufficient for me, to speak of the woe that is in marriage; for, gentle people, since I was twelve years old--thank God, Who lives forever” (1-5). With this claim, she establishes that she thinks she has the knowledge to talk about this subject. No one bothers to correct her because of how forcible of a woman she is and …show more content…
Then the next day the clerk tells a story with the exact opposite message. At the end of the clerk’s tale, there is a message from Chaucer that tells women to act like the Wife of Bath wants them to be and to use their looks as a tool against men. This message shows that Chaucer agreed with the Wife of Bath’s tale because it was about the woman being in charge. “Don't be tricked in your innocence; take the control into your own hands.” (1187-1188). Together these two stories provide two different examples of man and woman relationships. Chaucer then explains his own position which is very similar to the opinion of his character, The Wife of Bath. Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath and the Clerk to tell a story that is hidden between the
The Wife of Bath claims that she is an authority on marriage. “Experience, though it would be no authority in this world, would be quite sufficient for me, to speak of the woe that is in marriage; for, gentle people, since I was twelve years old--thank God, Who lives forever” (1-5). With this claim, she establishes that she thinks she has the knowledge to talk about this subject. No one bothers to correct her because of how forcible of a woman she is and …show more content…
Then the next day the clerk tells a story with the exact opposite message. At the end of the clerk’s tale, there is a message from Chaucer that tells women to act like the Wife of Bath wants them to be and to use their looks as a tool against men. This message shows that Chaucer agreed with the Wife of Bath’s tale because it was about the woman being in charge. “Don't be tricked in your innocence; take the control into your own hands.” (1187-1188). Together these two stories provide two different examples of man and woman relationships. Chaucer then explains his own position which is very similar to the opinion of his character, The Wife of Bath. Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath and the Clerk to tell a story that is hidden between the