Реферат: The Canterbury Tales Essay Research Paper One
She contradicts herself a few times in the prologue when she says that lies, tears, and spinning are the main assets to women. This is obviously a lie in itself because what she is doing is using her body parts as her assets to gain land and money as two other assets important to her. She emphasizes her points in her tale as she shows the knight to be a gallant and powerful warrior who does as he pleases and once he is in trouble he turns to the queen and the old woman. In real life the Wife of Bath is trying to say that men go on about their lives knowing they have power and riches, once a woman tempts them, all is lost and they bow down to the female race and offer them whatever they own.
My lady, my love, my dearest wife, I leave the matter to your wise decision. You make the
choice yourself, for the provision. I don’t care which; whatever pleases you suffices me. (Page 239)
She says in the prologue how women want power and that is what will keep them happy. Later in her tale she shows that by making the knight seem helpless in front of the old woman and by asking her what she thinks the best choice is and what decision to make. Without a doubt the knight is not stupid either, he would not want his wife to cheat on him or be ugly, so he leaves the decision to his wife. In the tale the characters with power were the queen and the old woman, the king gave the queen the choice to either have the knight put to death or save him. Because of this desire for power the wife becomes jealous of the old woman when it comes to her last husband. She identifies with the old woman and wishes that even though she is ugly, as the old woman is, she could have the power that the old woman has. She wants the power to be given to her from her partner so that she too can make the decisions and the choices and not have those taken away from her.
In conclusion, through the tales of the Wife of Bath and the Knight, Chaucer shows two points of view on women. The Wife of Bath represented the wicked extremist feminist who is after power and pleasure, while Emily represented the woman as an innocent, beautiful maiden who is clueless about issues concerning men. These two characters constantly served as opposite descriptions in appearances, general manners, and way of life and most importantly in their behavior towards men. The Knight s Tale revolved around the presence of Emily, while The Wife of Bath s Tale revolved around her past personal experience and her way of life.