Power In The Wife's Tale

In conclusion, the values of a women’s role are very important in our society and in the Old English epic poem literature. All these women in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight poem have shown all good things such as love, loyal, and romances in the medieval period of society. So, love is a good feeling for everyone in life that makes people happy with family and friends. Love will bring as many good things to everyone with these happiness, joyful, and peace for their life. Therefore, all the women love want to be a good wife with most of the powerful man and loyal man around them. And they can easier to hold the main position in the good relationship with all these men in the medieval period. Besides that, the women characters in

“Lanval” by Marie de France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer are both medieval romances that put a knight on trial by a queen’s court for his treatment of a lady. Throughout the course of this paper, readers will get the opportunity to travel back in time to the Middle Ages and that during the twelfth-century women were superior to men, specifically in their relationships and marriages; however, today men dominant individuals, especially in working world.

As the poems of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight show, women have always had power, yet not as overt a power as wielded by their masculine counterparts. The only dynamic of women’s power that has changed in the later centuries is that the confines and conditions in which women have wielded their power has become more lax, thus yielding to women more freedom in the expression of their power. The structure, imagery, and theme in the excerpts from Beowulf (lines 744-71) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (lines 2309-30) support the concept of more power in the later centuries, by contrasting the restriction of Wealhtheow and the power she practices in Beowulf with the Lady’s more direct assertion of power in Sir Gawain

The men throughout the Old English era played a very prevailing role in society. Men were the persons in society that were portrayed as the central leaders; being in charge of their homes and representing wisdom and strength. Because the men’s role in the Old English era was so dominant, there is a vast amount of literature about them, thus allowing women to be outshined. In fact, restrictions were placed on the majority of women during this period. However, as time evolved, the roles of women also evolved. In the Old English texts, The Wife’s Lament and Beowulf, the roles of women are seen as peace weavers, motivators, cupbearers and memory keepers, compared to the women in the Middle English text, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, who now play the roles of being protective, seductive and manipulative.

The Wife used her body as a bargaining tool, withholding sexual pleasure until her husbands gave her what she demanded; power. She even admitted that she had a healthy sexual appetite and alluded to the fact that she may quench those appetites outside of wedlock. In a way this foreshadowed the old hag who wished to gain higher social class, which would ultimately result in more power. She used her knowledge as a bargaining tool, withholding knowledge until the knight proclaimed to give her what she demanded. Both women have provided themselves with knowledge on how to survive in a world where women had little independence or power.

There is an evident change from women being completely subjected to men's superiority and authority to them starting the question the social rules and beliefs. Through "The Wife of Bath" Chaucer illustrates women’s need to be in control in order for men to be happy. Through Alisoun, Chaucer demonstrates how women are beginning to advocate for their rights and illustrates medieval society’s views of women in power ultimately conveying that women need to be in power for men to be happy

Imagine a house. A townhouse in a rather affluent part of Washington DC. This house doesn’t have children or pets, but an influential middle-aged married couple occupying the space. On a particular night, the husband comes home from work. His face is wracked with exhaustion and irritation. When he opens the door to his house, his eyes meet with his wife’s, who is sitting down in their living room. He opens his mouth to talk but she cuts him off, asking why he has not called her. Her voice is aching with betrayal and anger. She berates him, noting he is more perceptive in these situations. She wants to see him fired up and angry, not hopeless and self deprecating. He apologizes, in which she responds with a “No. I won’t accept that… My husband doesn’t apologize, even to me.” (House of Cards 2013) She then retires to their bedroom, glancing at him once before ascending the long staircase.

Women in the dark ages and middle ages literature differ from story to story. For example, Alisoun from “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Wife of Bath Tales” is a different type of woman than the rest of the woman around her in society in her story. Alisoun wants to have total control of her life and not to have man dominate and control how she believes how she should be living her life. She wants to gain the upper hand on society instead of having to rely on men to drag them along as they rise through society. Women are told just to keep to themselves and are belittled by men “And if that she be foul, thou seist that she coveiteth every man that she may se;for as a spaynel she wol on him lepe,,til that she finde som man hire to chepe.(The Wife

When the genuine Martin Guerre reappears, the cunning wife is compelled to alter the plans

In the present day there is little knowledge of what women’s roles were during Anglo-Saxon time, therefore, the written words that have survived from that time period must be looked at and investigated to give insight as to their roles. These medieval pieces of literature allows the reader glimpses into the roles of women, which were often very limited. Women’s roles during this time period were very traditional, limited by the expectations of society which were defined mostly by men and the church. Evidence of that men control the lives of females can be found in the poems Beowulf, The Wife’s Lament and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, however as time progresses their roles become slightly changed . For example, early medieval writing, such as the poem

It is no secret that women throughout history have been seen as the less of two halves. In other words, they were always undervalued and held no real political/social standard within society. In fact their only job in society was to be obedient/submissive to their male counterparts. However, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, a poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer, redefine those ideals set upon women. The poem is broken up into two parts one is the prologue which includes a woman who talks about the rules set by the church and society on women. As well as how society looks upon women who live her life style. She counters these teaching by her knowledge of the bible by introducing biblical men who had more than one wife. It is later revealed that her sole purpose for doing this was not only to gain women sovereignty. But, to create an equal plane for both the husband and wife in order to formulate a happy marriage and to prove that a women can decide to be submissive or not. After the prologue comes the women tale, which she talks about each of her five husband and how she uses her feminine charm to control them. As well as a male knight who suddenly finds himself in a very dire situation and is in need of help. The same women, now old, helps the knight in exchange for his hand in marriage. Both the prologue and the tale fixate on the idea of women sovereignty; self government and it purpose to achieving a happy and successful relationship between both

The Wife of Bath is a well-developed story in The Canterbury Tales. The Wife of Bath is perhaps the most influential female figure present in the novel, displaying sovereignty, elegance, and confidence. Chaucer describes the Wife’s lavish clothing saying, “hir coverchiefs ful fyne weren of ground; I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound” and “hir hosen weren of fyn scarlet reed” (20). Chaucer says of her features, “Boold was hir face, and fair, and reed of hewe” (20). She seemed to be put high value on fine clothing and looking her absolute best, Chaucer says the Wife of Bath “was a worthy woman al hir lyfe”

In the Middle Ages, the roles of women became less restricted and confined and women became more opinionated and vocal. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight presents Lady Bertilak, the wife of Sir Bertilak, as a woman who seems to possess some supernatural powers who seduces Sir Gawain, and Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale, present women who are determined to have power and gain sovereignty over the men in their lives. The female characters are very openly sensual and honest about their wants and desires. It is true that it is Morgan the Fay who is pulling the strings in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; nevertheless the Gawain poet still gives her a role that empowers her. Alison in The Wife if Bath Prologue represents the

While he is searching, he sees an elderly woman who gives him the answer, but he must promise to do whatever the lady asks for when she needs it. He promises, and when he comes back to the Queen, he tells her that “A woman wants the self - same sovereignty over her husband as over her lover, and master him; he must not be above her (Chaucer 145).” Everybody agrees, and out of nowhere, the elderly woman pops out and says she told him the answer. She now goes back to the promise she made, and says she wants to marry the knight. He must do so, and he complains that he has to live with this old, ugly woman. She asks him if he wants her to be ugly and faithful, or to be beautiful and unfaithful, and he lets her decide whatever she feels comfortable doing. She ends up being beautiful and faithful, and this describes the point of wanting equality between a husband and a wife. The moral fiber of the men in “The Pardoner’s Tale” and the knight in “The Wife of Bath” are different because the men only care for themselves while the knight lets others decide what they want to do for

In the tale the Knight has to receive judgement from the queen for having committed an act of rape. The queen is willing let the knight live under one condition as she states “I grant you life, if you can tell me, what thing women most desire? (Wife of Bath’s tale 48-49)” The queen is shown in this passage as having the complete power over the knight. And as her judgement the monarch decides to make him seek what women’s ultimate goal in life. This passage of the Wife of Bath’s tale shows that when women gain control over men they tend to take full advantage of them. Chaucer throughout the story uses the the knight to reinforce his point of view upon