Perfect Women In The Millers Tale

For a long time, women have been married off as trophy wives for men to parade around. What those men might not have known however is the advantageousness of their marriage for the women. While the women in these marriages were often considered less than human at times, their marriages helped advancement in rank. Also, if the wife was young, there was always the possibility to receive money upon the husband’s death. In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, the women show strong femininity (or a lack of it) yet have an ability to think for themselves. In the instances of “The Millers Tale” and “The Wife of Baths Tale”, women use marriage to their advantage, however the seemingly perfect wife has her flaws exposed, while the imperfect wife becomes the embodiment of an ideal woman.
In “The Millers Tale” the wife, Alison, is described as what seems to be physically …show more content…
The hag that the knight unceremoniously married was the opposite of any person he would wish to marry, and he lamented his luck. “He saw no living creature, except a woman sitting on the green: no one could imagine an uglier creature” (227). With her lowly status, her unfortunate face, and her old age, she was deemed unlikely to marry, so when the opportunity to blackmail a knight into marrying her arose, she took it. When the knight found the answer to his problem, she found the answer to all her troubles. “I taught this answer to the knight; for this he gave me his promise there that he would do the first thing I require of him, I pray you sir knight…to take me as your wife” (231). With the marriage, she gained higher rank, financial stability, and property, however she lacked his love and faithfulness. To get the best of her marriage she gave her new husband a choice and either way he chose would be of benefit to