A wise man once said, “All men are created equal,” but he did not include women in this equation making it hard for women to express themselves in the past. Back in the 1700s, women were not highly praised or even treated the same as men because of our gender differences. Women were lowly beings and were only there to satisfy men’s desires. Although, in Chaucer’s times, the Middle Ages, women were still constrained from society’s chains, but in the Wife of Bath’s Tale those constraints were nonexistent. In the Wife of Bath, Chaucer discusses the major themes of gender roles, power, and marriage. Tracing to the past, women were no higher than an animal, men were always in charge but that was not the case in The Wife of
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Alyson begins to talk about herself and her five husbands before telling her tale. She retells about how she overpowered three of her husbands using her body. She would get whatever she desired using her sex appeal. She boasted about the torment she put them through, falsely accusing them of adultery and things they never said when they were drunk. Alyson’s husbands were dogs on a leash being pulled and tugged around. “She boasts of how she controlled her first three husbands by always making them feel at fault.” Alyson knew what it meant to have power over someone because her first three husbands were submissive and she would manipulate them to feed her wants. Another case where women had the higher authority was when the witch forced the knight to marry her and then convinced him to give her sovereignty. The knight sought desperately for the answer, came upon the witch with the answer and ultimately paid the price. What women most desired in the tale was sovereignty and the knight gave up his own sovereignty to a woman. “My lady and my love, my dearest wife, I leave the matter to your decision,” the knight finally realizes that he must give up his sovereignty instead of arguing because that is what women most desire and he leaves the choice to the witch. To add, women were not the only ones with power in the tale, men also held authority. The knight overpowered a maiden in the woods and raped her, “And of that maiden, spite of all she said, by very force he took her maidenhead,” thus showing male
Alyson begins to talk about herself and her five husbands before telling her tale. She retells about how she overpowered three of her husbands using her body. She would get whatever she desired using her sex appeal. She boasted about the torment she put them through, falsely accusing them of adultery and things they never said when they were drunk. Alyson’s husbands were dogs on a leash being pulled and tugged around. “She boasts of how she controlled her first three husbands by always making them feel at fault.” Alyson knew what it meant to have power over someone because her first three husbands were submissive and she would manipulate them to feed her wants. Another case where women had the higher authority was when the witch forced the knight to marry her and then convinced him to give her sovereignty. The knight sought desperately for the answer, came upon the witch with the answer and ultimately paid the price. What women most desired in the tale was sovereignty and the knight gave up his own sovereignty to a woman. “My lady and my love, my dearest wife, I leave the matter to your decision,” the knight finally realizes that he must give up his sovereignty instead of arguing because that is what women most desire and he leaves the choice to the witch. To add, women were not the only ones with power in the tale, men also held authority. The knight overpowered a maiden in the woods and raped her, “And of that maiden, spite of all she said, by very force he took her maidenhead,” thus showing male