Chaucer’s Agenda
(An analysis of Chaucer’s iconoclastic attack on institutions in 1300 BCE)
“To our understanding of that complex series of religious and secular events still generally known as ‘the English Reformation’ (Whiting). Indeed, Chaucer wrote some very controversial tales about many radical pilgrims of his day, and for the first time brought skepticism into the minds of the commoner. Do you believe that Chaucer had an agenda, an intention to his satirical outlash? For he did attack many sacred views of his day and seemed to hope of some kind of reformation. Or do you believe that Chaucer was simply trying to be comical and capture life in all its essence. Geoffrey Chaucer author of Canterbury Tales includes in his famous tales and …show more content…
As stated directly from the prologue, “It’s a misery and a woe” (McGee). As expressed in the prior quote, the Wife of Bath states that marriage is nothing but distress and misery. Overall, marriage is horrible and she claims that she knows from her extensive experience of having been married five times. Each man tried to control her and in 1300 “rule of thumb” was a norm. A man could beat his wife with a stick that was as wide as his thumb. The Wife of Bath again declares in her prologue that patriarchy is garbage. For Aristotle and society in her time had the incorrect view on women and men’s equality in marriage. The Wife of Bath protests in her prologue that men and women should be equal in marriage and in general. For she has outsmarted all five of her past husbands, so she is not lacking intelligence and is not any less capable of achieving great things in life. From Voltaire’s Candide: A Tale of Women’s Equality, “In Voltaire’s own life women played a far greater role than men” (Scherr). The prior quote implies that women play a larger role than men in life, and as a result should deserve equality. Fortunately, society has somewhat changed the common view on women’s equality and
(An analysis of Chaucer’s iconoclastic attack on institutions in 1300 BCE)
“To our understanding of that complex series of religious and secular events still generally known as ‘the English Reformation’ (Whiting). Indeed, Chaucer wrote some very controversial tales about many radical pilgrims of his day, and for the first time brought skepticism into the minds of the commoner. Do you believe that Chaucer had an agenda, an intention to his satirical outlash? For he did attack many sacred views of his day and seemed to hope of some kind of reformation. Or do you believe that Chaucer was simply trying to be comical and capture life in all its essence. Geoffrey Chaucer author of Canterbury Tales includes in his famous tales and …show more content…
As stated directly from the prologue, “It’s a misery and a woe” (McGee). As expressed in the prior quote, the Wife of Bath states that marriage is nothing but distress and misery. Overall, marriage is horrible and she claims that she knows from her extensive experience of having been married five times. Each man tried to control her and in 1300 “rule of thumb” was a norm. A man could beat his wife with a stick that was as wide as his thumb. The Wife of Bath again declares in her prologue that patriarchy is garbage. For Aristotle and society in her time had the incorrect view on women and men’s equality in marriage. The Wife of Bath protests in her prologue that men and women should be equal in marriage and in general. For she has outsmarted all five of her past husbands, so she is not lacking intelligence and is not any less capable of achieving great things in life. From Voltaire’s Candide: A Tale of Women’s Equality, “In Voltaire’s own life women played a far greater role than men” (Scherr). The prior quote implies that women play a larger role than men in life, and as a result should deserve equality. Fortunately, society has somewhat changed the common view on women’s equality and