The Wife Of Bath And King Lear

To begin with, the Wife of Bath argues and opposes the traditional rules of women by quoting scripture. First she quotes two men in the bible, Abraham and Jacob who in their times had many wives and were also holy men, followers and

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

Women from the beginning of time have been determined to make their mark in the world of a "so-called" man 's world. Women believed they deserved the right to express their opinions about family matters as well as business affairs. The women in Beowulf and The Wife of Bath Tale have different issues, however they are for all the same reason: be heard by the power dominating sex. In the eighth century men were thought of as being superior to women. In the fourteenth century women played roles that made them feel superior over males. Both poems illustrate how women were used as symbols by powerful men to support their nobility. The opposing dynamics of the feeble women in Beowulf

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.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is an important part of his most famed work, The Canterbury Tales. One of the most respected highly analyzed of all of the tales, this particular one is important both for its character development and its prevailing themes. It seamlessly integrates ideas on society at that time with strong literary development. This work stands the test of time both because of its literary qualities and because of what it can teach us about the role of women in late Medieval society.

"The Wife of Bath", in the collection of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, illustrates the stereotypical image of a women in medieval times ("The Portrayal of Gender in The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.") The tale characterizes women as lustful and greedy burdens on men. However, to readers today, "The Wife of Bath" represents a strong minded feminist woman who is confident and open about her sexuality. Narrated by a character called Alisoun, "The Wife of Bath" reveals an insight to a woman’s point of view in medieval times. Alisoun begins her long prologue by declaring that she follows the rule of experience; announcing that she’s a self–proclaimed women. Throughout the her tale Alisoun questions and challenges the idea of power and authority in medieval society. Through Alisoun, Chaucer gives women a voice to express their call for equality and their need for power. By using description and characterization, Chaucer gives readers an insight to a society in which women are starting to express their desire to have power ultimately arguing that in order for men to be happy women need to have sovereignty in medieval times.

The Wife of Bath begins the prologue to her tale by boasting of her experience in marriage. She has married five men already, and ignores the idea that this is a reproach to Christian principles. She is merely adhering to the Christian principle of "be fruitful and multiply." She cites the case of King Solomon, who had multiple wives, and tells the group that she welcomes the opportunity for her sixth husband. She also points out that Jesus never lays down a law about virginity, and essentially states that we have the parts for sex and should use them as such. The Pardoner objects to the Wife of Bath's musings on marriage, but she decides to tell

The Wife of Bath is a women who knows how society see her and pushes against these boundaries. She knows what men what and she uses her assets to control them. She is a feminist icon in her time period. Women most likely looked up to her for her free spirit. She believes that women have the right to live their lives the way they want too. Whatever they do with their body is THEIR right and they shouldn’t be ridiculed for it. If men have that right, then women should too. She shows the modernized thinking of equality in terms of sexuality that we see

She was not only physically ugly, but she did not treat her husbands with respect or dignity either. She would beat her husbands, if she felt the need to. If she in return would get beaten, she would gain some love for her husbands. In fact her fifth husband, Johnny, routinely beat her, and she loved and respected him most of all, “He struck me, still can ache, along my row of ribs…but…I think I loved him best, I’ll tell no lie.”

This role of women would not sit well in “The Wife of Bath’s.” These women have power over men and even challenge their values. “The Wife of Bath’s show women having power and creating their own role in society while in Beowulf, the woman’s role is defined by men and never questioned; Beowulf would not be fit to live in a community with self-powered women and would argue against their power. Beowulf and Alisoun both share having power over others. Beowulf is honorable with his power.

In King Lear, Traditional roles, such as nobility, gender, and social status, are all usurped or attempted to be overturned during at least one occasion in King Lear. To illustrate, noble roles become overturned when King Lear lessened himself as a king to upgrade two of his daughters, Goneril and Regan, to a higher power of authority. In contrast, he ended up in jail with Cordelia instead of regaining his position back as king. Gender Roles are overturned when the three daughters became independent; they were in control of the kingdom and their husbands. Finally, the last role to be overturned is the traditional role of a fool which is supposed to be an entertainer for the king, however, the fool in King Lear became an adviser instead.

While King Lear was more of a focus on a Jacob-like character and the consequences of his actions, The Tempest is more of a focus on what an Esau-like character would do when confronted with the power they have over their brother. Prospero knows that part of the reason he is on this island is his fault because

The Wife of Bath is a wealthy and elegant woman with extravagant, brand new clothing. She is from Bath, a key English cloth-making town in the Middle Ages, making her a talented seam stress. Before the wife begins her tale, she informs the audience about her life and personal experience on marriage, in a lengthy prologue. The Wife of Bath initiates her prologue by declaring that she has had five husbands, giving her enough experience to make her an expert on marriage. Numerous people have criticized her for having had many husbands, but she does not see anything immoral about it. Most people established negative views on her marriages, based on the interpretation of what Christ meant when he told a Samaritan woman that her fifth husband

Despite its first performance being in 1608 where women were not allowed to take part in theatre, William Shakespeare’s King Lear is arguably dominated by the female characters. The story focuses on a king who is driven into madness and decides to handover his power to his two eldest daughters, Regan and Goneril. These two daughters are exceptionally important to the development of the play since it can be argued that they are the ones commanding a fair share of the events that take place. This can also be said about Cordelia. According to Kate Downey Hickey and Catherine S. Cox, Cordelia is the essence of the play as she offers truth and evasiveness. In the following, the role of women will be discussed in King Lear. How are the female characters

One of the most important life skills is being able to communicate properly with others. Having strong communication skills allows one to better understand the situation at hand. Proper communication is essential to working out problems because of this reason. In the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, Lear communicating with his daughters, Gloucester communicating with his sons, and Lear communicating with Kent are all examples of failure of communication, which later lead to consequences and hardships that the characters must face. Without proper communication, people will go through unnecessary hardships, and will be punished for it. These hardships are easily avoided by using strong communication skills, and understanding the message that others are trying to send.