Relationships In The Canterbury Tales

Relationships have shaped humanity since the beginning of time. From Adam and Eve to Romeo and Juliet to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, relationships influence culture and fuel the imaginations and passions of many. Perhaps the most important aspect of a relationship lies in what it brings long-term: the continuation of our species. For all these reasons, relationships constantly appear and reappear in culture, music, and literature. However Charles Dickens and Betty Smith do not focus the effect of relationships on the bonding of two people together, but rather the full development and maturation of one individual’s identity. In their respective novels, Great Expectations and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Dickens and Smith explore how relationships impact a person’s identity and the importance of caution in selecting a lifelong partner.

What is a good relationship? Many people get asked this question every day and there are many different answers. Throughout history love and lust has been a very interesting topic to write about or in portraying in writings. Two stories that portray love in a different light, that are intriguing, is “The Boarding House” by James Joyce and "Women Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros. These so-called love stories’ main theme is disillusionment. “The Boarding House” and “Women Hollering Creek” both have a conflict, thematic development, and the epiphanies.

Relationships are seen everywhere at all times, there are many different types of relationships. There are relationships between students and teachers, mother and father, an employee and their boss, and there are romantic relationships. All these types of relationships mentioned, plus many more, have an impact on our daily life no matter where we are. In the science fiction novel, Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury the relationships in that society are very distinct from the ones present in today's society. Ray Bradbury creates a very interesting twist on how people's perspectives on relationships have been changing throughout the years. The lack of communication in Fahrenheit 451’s society has a negative effect on relationships because it prevents wisdom from spreading to younger people and to new generations, causes people to lose self worth, and it causes isolation to those in relationships.

Relationships are a result of what people put into it and what they take out. In The Odyssey by Homer, relationships show up as respectable, loyal, and moral. While other examples are corrupt, and immoral. Also relationships shows up in Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey. Some of the examples have great connections, and some other ones have no connection at all. The Last book I found some examples on relationships is Midnight Pearls by Debbie Viguie. The examples I found were romantic or just as a friend. The Odyssey, Beauty Sleep, and Midnight Pearls all have wonderful, and romantic relationships and other are horrible, not good relationships.

As a wife she uses her instrument as abundantly as her maker gave it. Her husbands may have it whenever they want. Her husband is her debtor and her slave, and she has the power over his own body. (Par 2) The Wife of Bath uses her body and sexual attributes to gain power over her first three husbands as described in the “Prologue”. She uses their lust against them, holding their desires over their heads to get what she desires.

The Wife of Bath pursued husbands in a way that did not benefit both sides of the marriage. She clearly admits that she does not show shame from having sexual relations with many different men, as she simply desires sex and riches from wealthy men. Medieval civilizations did not consider this behavior appropriate, as it conflicted with ideas of courtly love and God’s word. She states that, “I am dominated by the planet Venus in my senses, and my heart is dominated by the planet Mars” (Chaucer 626). This statement supports that her body and desires only seek pleasure, while her true soul remains conflicted, unable to truly love. At the end of each marriage she appears as the one who reigns victorious and still willing to remarry: “I boast of one thing for myself; in the end I had the better in every way” (430). The Wife does not have respect for her multiple wedded spouses, and would rather remain happy when they leave her than to flood herself with emotion of sadness.

The Wife of Bath starts by explaining herself as “Experienced, though no authority”. She considers herself as experienced because since the age of twelve she’s been married but not with the same husband. She’s had five husbands throughout her lifetime. The reason why I think she’s been married so many times is because the men didn’t have what she wanted. They may have been good to her but they may have not met her needs. The Wife of Bath looks at life in a different way. God says women are supposed to make more life such as children. This may be another reason why she has had so many husbands. God try’s to explain to her “that only once in life” should she be wed. Instead of listening to God & taking his authority she ignores his authority. This is an example of her acting as if she as no authority. When explaining the Wife of Bath she can be explained as a knowledgeable person that’s does what she can do find happiness in a man that is wealthy,

The fourth one was “bad” because this husband cheated on her. Her last husband Johnny, "the one I took for love and not for wealth…"(339), was bad because Dame Alice handed her power to her husband along with all of her money and land. He last husband also became abusive towards her, leaving her deaf in one ear. The Wife of Bath’s prologue proves that that she is only happy when she maintains complete dominance over her partner.

The Wife of Bath is the tale of an independent and headstrong woman. She strongly believes in the worth of every woman and that women should be dominant in their marriages. The Wife of Bath also directly speaks against strict religious claims for chastity and monogamy, using Biblical examples. These examples include Solomon to show that the Bible does not openly condemn all expressions of sexuality, even outside of marriage.

The Wife of Bath's actions also stem from her strong greed and need for control. That particular husband, her fifth one, was the only one she could not control. The desperate guilt he feels after hitting her, puts her in an excellent bargaining position. While lying on the floor she puts on a dramatic act of self-pity to make him feel even worse, and later describes: "He gave the bridle completely into my hand" (219).

The Wife of Bath had five husbands, and she believes that women should have all the power in the marriage. This is very important to her tale, and the Wife of Bath shows just how smart she was, manipulating her

It is often said that all good things come to an end. Relationships come and go, and some mean more than others. In fact, there was even a relationship model developed by a communication researcher by the name of Mark Knapp. In his model, he goes through what seems to be presented as a smooth step transition from each stage in which a relationship eventually evolves into. As I studied this up then down ladder model, I began to realize that I ought to build up some strong calf muscles, because my relationship sure has climbed up and down a few flights of stairs. Mark Knapp believes that relationships go through multiple stages, the uphill stages being initiation, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, bonding, then relational maintenance. On the flip side, Knapp believes the descending stages to be differentiating, circumscribing, avoiding, and eventually, termination.

What is a relationship? Is it a sharing of understanding and trials with another human being, a connection between a man and a woman emotionally and sexually, or could it be, just simply, a compassion or love intertwined between two souls? These aspects of relationship and more are illustrated in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth. The way Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship changes drastically throughout the play is an example of how fragile a relationship really is. With one word or action a relationship can erode itself away. This play is a perfect example of a promising relationship that messes with a power greater than themselves and in the end falls into a hopeless swamp with no way out, nowhere to turn.

The Wife of Bath character is a woman who had married five times. Of these five husbands she only loved one. On line 195 of the story she stated, “As three of them were good and two were bad. The three men who were good were rich and old.” She did not marry them for love. She was the

This statement demonstrates that the role of women, such as The Wife of Bath’s, was to be a dominant leader of the marriage. She describes her husband as her slaves and debtor,