A Tale through the Eyes of the Wife of Bath Essay Sample

The Wife of Bath uses concluding and logic to warrant that it should non be looked down upon for a adult female to hold multiple matrimonies throughout her life-time. Allison. the Wife of Bath. argues that God “bade us all to wax and multiply” ( 277 ) . Basically. Allison is claiming that God is the accountant of the existence and by get marrieding multiple work forces she is merely following his direction. In add-on. the Wife of Bath disputes that there is a dual criterion about holding several matrimonies. She grounds that while adult females are looked down upon for holding multiple matrimonies. work forces throughout history have frequently married many adult females and are non shamed. For illustration. she envies King Solomon for the figure of adult females he had slept with and married. Alison references a counter- point that the Apostle made in which he recommends that adult females maintain their virginity. She makes the logical point that if all adult females were abstentious. there would be no one to make more virgins. Her point is made utilizing deductive logical thinking because her logic is derived from the fact that without reproduction. the population would decease out. Alison claims that St. Paul advocated virginity. but he did non do it an duty.

In add-on. The Wife of Bath discusses that God would non hold molded the female and male genitalias to be so absolutely fit for one another if they were non meant to be used in harmoniousness. She is concluding that God gave work forces and adult females genitalias to utilize them. and making so should be endorsed instead than disgraced. The counter- statement to her theory is that nuns and priests normally argue that genitalias are for concern instead than pleasance. She so states that it is stated “in books: ‘A adult male must give his married woman her debt’” ( 280 ) . This quotation mark portrays that it is a man’s responsibility to fulfill his adult female in bed. The Wife of Bath uses this quotation mark to turn out that utilizing genitalias should non be used purely for “the purguration of urine” and “to know a male from a female” ( 279 ) . Rather. genitalias should be used for these cases every bit good as for fulfilling sexual desires. Alison describes several of her past five matrimonies and it appears that she was the authorization figure in all but her last. She would frequently diss her hubbies and fault them for things that they did non make.

By doing her hubbies feel that she was unsatisfied. they worked harder to delight her. She attempts to warrant her actions by saying that she was non in love with any of the first four work forces she married and was merely utilizing them for their money. The lone matrimony in which she really loved her hubby. her 5th matrimony. was the lone matrimony in which her hubby dominated. He besides treated her awfully by crushing her and stating her narratives of adult females who were atrocious to their hubbies. Merely as Alison had tried to do her hubbies feel black by call on the carpeting them. her 5th hubby. Jonny. made her feel guilty by invariably discoursing the despicable nature of adult females. The Wife of Bath wants to warrant her multiple matrimonies because without them. she would non hold been able to take expensive holidaies and see the universe.

The Wife of Bath’s narrative is a contemplation of Alison’s sentiment and features that were portrayed in her prologue. In the narrative. a knight ventures on a journey to salvage his life and larn what adult females want most. At the terminal of his ocean trip he learns from an old adult female that what adult females desire most is power over their hubbies. It is clear in the prologue to the narrative that this is Alison’s sentiment. For case. Alison enjoys pull stringsing her hubbies. She does so by keeping out on them sexually. call on the carpeting them. and faulting them for things that they did non make. Due to her evil. any little act of kindness she portrayed towards her hubbies resulted in their complete felicity and satisfaction. She enjoyed maintaining her hubbies wrapped around her finger and gave them virtually no power. In add-on. the knight in the narrative marries the old adult females in return for her cognition.

He is wholly disquieted and disgusted by her. The old adult females allows her hubby to make up one’s mind whether he would wish her to be beautiful with the hazard of her disloyalty or ugly and old but everlastingly faithful to him. When he gives her the power to make up one’s mind for herself. she is so overjoyed that she becomes both beautiful and loyal. This narrative contains some analogues to the narrative of Jonny and Alison. Jonny treated Alison dreadfully until the twenty-four hours he punched her so difficult in her ear that it went def. She made him experience so guilty that he gave her all the power she desired. The Wife of Bath uses the old lady as a intimation to work forces that if adult females are given power. they will go good married womans. The knight is besides a parallel character to Jonny. At the beginning of the narrative. the knight violently rapes a adult female. Similarly. Alison. in an effort to do Jonny believe she is smitten with him. Tells Jonny that she had a dream that he violently raped her. Both the knight and Jonny learn that it is best to let their married womans to be given freedom and power. Alison deliberately leaves the use facet of deriving power out of her narrative in order to gull work forces into believing that their married womans will be perfect if they are given laterality.

Chaucer aims to set up a clear character through the Wife of Bath’s narrative and prologue. He begins by giving Alison a clear sentiment and features. These include a demand for power in relationships. get marrieding for money instead than love. and call on the carpeting her hubbies in order to pull strings them. Chaucer allows the reader to analyze Alison’s position farther throughout her narrative. The narrative is a representation of the Wife of Bath’s sentiment. The moral of the narrative was that work forces should give their married womans freedom and power in matrimony. This was a cagey manner for Chaucer to show the Wife of Bath’s character because it is clear that the lesson of the narrative was Alison’s sentiment every bit good. The Wife of Bath’s narrative is one illustration of Chaucer’s form of utilizing the narratives in order to assist the reader learn more about the character stating them.