According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, feminism is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. In past years, society has viewed females as inferior to males, which lets men do all of the “hard work”. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer presents Alice as a bold and audacious character, and therefore feels differently about the norm of letting only men have rights. She overcomes the social mentality that men have a higher status than women with her personal willpower. When labeling herself with this authority, Alice gains control over her many husbands and wins what a man normally inherits at birth. Regardless of the lack of power among women in this time period, Alice takes control in her relationships
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She spreads the word around that her husbands betray her with improper activities. She accuses them of interacting with other women, becoming drunkards, and other acts against God’s will. Alice states, “‘I would firmly swear to my old husbands, that they said this in their drunkenness; and all was false, except I got Jankin and my niece to be my witnesses. O Lord! The pain and woe I did them, though they were innocent, by God’s sweet suffering!” (NeCastro, 394.) Although untrue, Alice convinces everyone she knows that her husbands are responsible for these performances. This embarrasses her husbands which leads to their defeat in the marriage. The men take the fault for these fabricated actions and thus give in to accommodate to their wife. Alice goes so far as to make these measures seem impossible, yet society still believes them because of her forceful nature. She confirms to, “accuse [her] old husband of visiting prostitutes, even when they were so sick that they could scarcely stand.” (NeCastro, 394.) Alice highlights to the reader how incapable of being true her assertions seem, however this does not stop her, instead it leads to her victory in the relationships. Whether the stories told remain correct or not, Alice tricks her husbands into accepting her favors because of the enriched detail provided in the
She spreads the word around that her husbands betray her with improper activities. She accuses them of interacting with other women, becoming drunkards, and other acts against God’s will. Alice states, “‘I would firmly swear to my old husbands, that they said this in their drunkenness; and all was false, except I got Jankin and my niece to be my witnesses. O Lord! The pain and woe I did them, though they were innocent, by God’s sweet suffering!” (NeCastro, 394.) Although untrue, Alice convinces everyone she knows that her husbands are responsible for these performances. This embarrasses her husbands which leads to their defeat in the marriage. The men take the fault for these fabricated actions and thus give in to accommodate to their wife. Alice goes so far as to make these measures seem impossible, yet society still believes them because of her forceful nature. She confirms to, “accuse [her] old husband of visiting prostitutes, even when they were so sick that they could scarcely stand.” (NeCastro, 394.) Alice highlights to the reader how incapable of being true her assertions seem, however this does not stop her, instead it leads to her victory in the relationships. Whether the stories told remain correct or not, Alice tricks her husbands into accepting her favors because of the enriched detail provided in the