The Father of English literature, Geoffrey Chaucer, was born around the year 1340 in London, England. He was born into a wealthy family who acquired their money from the wine industry. In his early life, Chaucer attended the St. Paul’s Cathedral School as a student where he became familiarized with writing. His first position was when he was hired a public servant in the year 1357 to Countess Elizabeth of Ulster. During this time of his young childhood, he went off to fight in the Hundred Years’ War which was taking place in France. He was held hostage but due to his connections King Edward III was able to get him released. Due to this favor, he started working for the government and traveling around on diplomatic missions to other countries
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At first glance in this text, the Wife of Bath seems like a respectable single woman that goes to church every Sunday. As the reader dives deeper into the reading, it is evident that this is not the case. She gives advice on marriage but it turns out, she has had five husbands so she is not a credible source of information on how to maintain a stable marriage. She is very attached to God and going to church but her sexual actions do not agree with the normative society. She cannot be a god church goer if she commits sins that go directly against what the church teaches. She later goes on to say that her “good” husbands were those with money and those that would let her do whatever she would like to do. She may think that she is the exemplar, but diving deeply into this reading, it is evident that this is not the …show more content…
Is the character genuine or can the reader not trust them? Do they have good motives for embarking on this pilgrimage? The Knight, seemingly full of chivalry, tells the story of two knights who greatly lack chivalry. The Wife of Bath appears to be a good church going lady that everyone likes in the town but her actions directly go against what the church teaches. The Pardoner is supposed to relieve people of their sins but he does it through selling pardons so people can just buy their way out of sinning. He even admits that he is guilty of sinning himself. In all, this use of irony by Chaucer enables the reader to read into more detail and really question the motives behind each
At first glance in this text, the Wife of Bath seems like a respectable single woman that goes to church every Sunday. As the reader dives deeper into the reading, it is evident that this is not the case. She gives advice on marriage but it turns out, she has had five husbands so she is not a credible source of information on how to maintain a stable marriage. She is very attached to God and going to church but her sexual actions do not agree with the normative society. She cannot be a god church goer if she commits sins that go directly against what the church teaches. She later goes on to say that her “good” husbands were those with money and those that would let her do whatever she would like to do. She may think that she is the exemplar, but diving deeply into this reading, it is evident that this is not the …show more content…
Is the character genuine or can the reader not trust them? Do they have good motives for embarking on this pilgrimage? The Knight, seemingly full of chivalry, tells the story of two knights who greatly lack chivalry. The Wife of Bath appears to be a good church going lady that everyone likes in the town but her actions directly go against what the church teaches. The Pardoner is supposed to relieve people of their sins but he does it through selling pardons so people can just buy their way out of sinning. He even admits that he is guilty of sinning himself. In all, this use of irony by Chaucer enables the reader to read into more detail and really question the motives behind each