Women for a long time did not have many rights as humans. They were always treated as objects and many times portrayed as only capable of maintaining a household. It was not until the 1920s that women began receiving rights, for example the right to vote. Before this time women were fighting for their rights and many people supported them, one of them was Chaucer. In the The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, he tells the reader that he supports women becoming outspoken and taking charge in their relationships. Chaucer shows people that women having a say in their life and marriage is not detrimental.
In The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, the Wife of Bath is a strong woman that Chaucer utilizes to communicate this theme. He puts a woman like …show more content…
The Wife of Bath’s last husband treated her horribly. Once she married him she “repented later, more and more. none of my pleasures would he let me seek” (Chaucer, 100). She had to give him everything and he did not let her have or enjoy anything. The Wife of Bath did not like this and one day ripped his favorite book and because of that he “smote [her] once upon the cheek because [she] tore a page out of a book” (Chaucer, 100). He was not giving her the attention she wanted and he would only talk about the book, so she did what she wanted to. Because she was doing what she wanted, she was reprimanded for that. The Wife of Bath showed him that she was not weak and could defend herself because she “made him burn that book upon the spot. And when I’d mastered him, and out of deadlock” (Chaucer, 101). He did exactly what she said and she finally had mastered him. He knew never again to try and control her. This is not the only example in the Wife of Bath’s Tale, the Knight in her tale also wanted to control a woman by force. The Knight saw a woman one day by herself and “spite of all she said, by force he took her maidenhead” (Chaucer, 103). He shamed that girl and took something valuable that she did not want to give him. The Knight saw the maiden as an object and took what was not
In The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, the Wife of Bath is a strong woman that Chaucer utilizes to communicate this theme. He puts a woman like …show more content…
The Wife of Bath’s last husband treated her horribly. Once she married him she “repented later, more and more. none of my pleasures would he let me seek” (Chaucer, 100). She had to give him everything and he did not let her have or enjoy anything. The Wife of Bath did not like this and one day ripped his favorite book and because of that he “smote [her] once upon the cheek because [she] tore a page out of a book” (Chaucer, 100). He was not giving her the attention she wanted and he would only talk about the book, so she did what she wanted to. Because she was doing what she wanted, she was reprimanded for that. The Wife of Bath showed him that she was not weak and could defend herself because she “made him burn that book upon the spot. And when I’d mastered him, and out of deadlock” (Chaucer, 101). He did exactly what she said and she finally had mastered him. He knew never again to try and control her. This is not the only example in the Wife of Bath’s Tale, the Knight in her tale also wanted to control a woman by force. The Knight saw a woman one day by herself and “spite of all she said, by force he took her maidenhead” (Chaucer, 103). He shamed that girl and took something valuable that she did not want to give him. The Knight saw the maiden as an object and took what was not