Human Nature In The Canterbury Tales

Insight into Human Nature in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
The trip of all trips that was told from generation to generation is one that was not actually taken but we are inspired by the personal voyage of Chaucer himself. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote about this “trip” to bring attention to peoples beliefs. The variety of characters allow us to see how people came about their views and the different ways they went about practicing them. Chaucer tried to have at least one character that everyone could relate to, by doing these it allowed the readers to have a personal connection with the tales. The Canterbury Tales is a literary work that deals with the personal concerns and solutions of an evolving medieval society in Europe. The pilgrimages …show more content…
The Wife of Bath was such a free thinker. She allowed no one to control how she thought and she always did what was pleasing to her. “In wifehood I will use my instrument as freely as my maker has sent it,” (Chaucer). She was married for a total of five times. So with all five men she used her instrument when it was pleasing to her and when it was pleasing to him. She used her instrument to get everything she wanted, which sometimes was just the time of day and sometimes materialistic things. Many judged her for the many husbands she had and preached that it was unholy and un-ladylike, but she simply backed up her life style by stating, “… God expressly instructed us to increase and multiply,” (Chaucer). “…Blessed be God that I wedded five! When my husband had departed from the world, then some other Christian man shall wed me. For then, I am free, in God’s name to wed where I wish” (Chaucer). The Wife of Bath was challenged one day by her latest husband. He would read books to her that would talk down on women and say they were worthless and this outraged her. She took a stand and he hit her, but after he did it something over took him and allowed him to see the true colors of women. They both came to an understanding that women are worth something and they are for the most part holy, you cannot speak for everyone, and that they should be treated better by society. This story shows Chaucer’s personal beliefs but also shows that so how a woman has showed him that the bible allows women to do a lot more than men think it does. By having her prove her points using the bible shows that he is now a believer and supports women a little more and shows that his personal belief has