Weeks 4-6
Please use the comments section to answer questions. Do not try to answer all questions. Try to keep up an average of one per week, with time for a few comments on the ideas of others.
2. The Wife of Bath's Tale is considered by some critics to indicate that Chaucer may have been a feminist. Why might they believe this? Do you agree? Remember to cite evidence from the text or some other source.
3.Hahn's essay (see critical reader)on The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelleidentifies the motif of the loathly lady, but arguesit has a different purpose than asserting the feminine. What does he think the function of the story is?
4. In the context of Elizabethan and Jacobean sonnets, how can we define "conceits"?
5. Discuss what you think is the most striking or outrageous example.
6. What does Revard (1997) suggest about the relationship between language, sex, power and transgression in the English Renaissance?
It is obvious to see where the consideration of Chaucer as a feminist comes from, or at least that he presents an opposition to men dominating over women in his tale “The wife of Bath.” It could be interpreted as such most clearly in the lines, “Women desire to have sovereignty, as well over her husband as her love, and to be in mastery above him.” (1038-1040) Not only does the ‘loathly lady’ of the story have radical views for her time in terms of gender roles, she also has multiple lessons to teach her new husband about nobility, poverty, and the judgement of physical appearance. “Now where you say I am ugly and old, then do not fear to be a cuckold; for filth and old age as I may prosper, are great guardians of chastity.”(1213-1216)Not to mention the entire tale is based on the consequences one man must face as punishment for raping a woman. This in itself could be used as evidence to suggest Chaucer was demonstrating his view that no man has a right to a woman’s body without her permission.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Susan Carter argues it may also be true that Chaucer did not specifically set out to endorse the strident voice he gives to the wife but is simply playing around with textuality, subjectivity and the construction of ideas about sexuality. “Despite the fact that the catholic Chaucer is presumably not using the wife of Bath to present his own views, he allows her to express radical ideas on gender theory and to tell a tale that demonstrates some of what she has theorized.” (Carter, 2003). The motif central to the wife’s tale (that a shapeshifting hag becomes beautiful once she gets her way) makes it more feasible that the wife’s tale is actually about liberation from gender role restriction.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of the word feminism is, “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” This definition of the term feminist could be used to endorse Carter’s opinion that the story is less about the equality of the sexes and more about playing with the roles of gender in society as the tale implies what women want most in the world is to have power over men instead of an equal share of it. Though the wife is a strong, independent representative of feminist ideals; to me there is also a strong anti-feminist component to the tale that I feel more directly expresses the views of the time (including those of Chaucer.) This is shown to me in the convenient disappearance of the rape victim, never to be mentioned again in the story and thus never receiving any justice for her unfair attack at the hands of Bath. The entire affair in fact is treated in an extremely casual manner. At the end of the story, when the wife of Bath transforms herself into a beautiful young maiden she tells our antagonistic protagonist “But nonetheless, since I know your delight, I shall fulfil your worldly appetite.” (1217-1218.) Seeming to endorse the idea that a good woman should fulfil the worldly appetites of men.
In conclusion, The Wife of Bath is an arguably feminist tale in the fact that the knight is presumably punished. Though personally the happy ending awarded to the knight seems decidedly anti-feminist. In retrospect the tale is the story of a rapist, freed from punishment and ultimately rewarded with a young, beautiful wife who is completely faithful to him. Compared with the views and theory of the time however, it is still a pleasant surprise to learn that someone of that period was capable of playing with gender roles and to point out the absurdity of it all. It can be seen as a tale of female empowerment, or alternatively a reminder of the struggles woman faced (and still do face) daily.
A very thoughtful answer. Sometimes I wonder if Chaucer was playing with these gender roles in order to amuse in audience and mock the aspirations of women.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePart II: Resources
ReplyDelete1. Carter, S. Coupling the beastly bride and the hunter hunted: What lies behind Chaucer's wife of Bath's tale, Auckland, 2003.
2. Merriam-Webster Dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feminism
3. Feminism or anti-feminism: Images of women in chaucer's the wife of bath http://www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/english/feminism-or-anti-feminism-images-of-women-in-chaucer-s-the-wife-of-bath.html
Chaucer who is the author of “The wife of bath’s tale” has been considered feminist by critics due to the story revolving around female characters. The title of the fable assumes the tale is about female perspectives and ideologies. For example lines 1038-1041 "Women desire to have sovereignty as well over her husband as her love, and to be in mastery above him.
ReplyDeleteThis is your greatest desire, though you kill me.” The passage portrays a strong message claiming women are not subjects, and should be valued and seen in the same hierarchal status as men.
Women are seen to be giving power. For example, in lines 894-898 The king gave the guilty knight to the queen, for her to choose whether she would save him or condemn him to his death. This shows the King a powerful figure submits to his wife at her prompting.
The knight is also tested throughout the tale by his wife about truth and love. He finds it hard to love her as she is described as ugly and old in line 1213. Lines 1219-1227 describes; she asks that he chooses one of two things. For her to be “ugly and old until she dies, a true and humble wife, or young and fair but a dishonest wife and takes her chances with the crowd”. The knight succumbs to her, as it is too difficult for him to make a choice and lets her decide.
Resources:
Chaucer, Geoffrey (c.1390). The Wife of Bath.
You have some ideas. Reference to other commentators like Susan Carter would have helped you. Unsupported opinions can only take you so far.
DeleteQuestion 1. Cite some variations in the Loathly Lady fabula across the three tales in your Reader. Focus on the conditions by which the lady is either beautiful or ugly, and the actions of the knight/king/"hero"...
ReplyDeleteThe loathly lady is common medieval literature and in both The wife baths tale by Geoffrey Chaucer and The Wedding of Sir Gawin and Dame Ragnell by Thomas Hahn she is evident.
There are some variations that dictates the action of men towards a woman’s appearance. Both tales had the woman trying to tempt the man to fulfil her desires. She is characterised by beginning out to be eyesore ugly old hag and transforms physically into a beautiful young lady.
Chaucer’s tale tells of a knight who violates a lady’s maiden head and is punished by the queen. Who sends him on a quest to find what women deeply desire or he will be condemned to his death. He accepts the quest and seeks help from a hag who in return requests his hand in marriage. The knight answers correctly and marries the hag, but he’s unhappy about her appearance. The hag offers an ultimatum to be old, ugly and faithful or young, beautiful but unfaithful. Unable to decide the knight gives sovereignty to his wife and she transforms into a beautiful young lady who is faithful. Chaucer uses adjectives such as old and ugly to describe the hag. Also after her transformation Chaucer described the hag as a beautiful, young lady. Which is a generalisation of old hags and young women.
“For though I am ugly, and old, and poor,” (1063)
“his wife looked so ugly” (1082)
“she so was beautiful, ad young moreover” (1251)
In Hahn’s version, when King Arthurs safety was threatened by Dame Ragnell, Gawain offered to marry her as he was very loyal to his king. The tale portrays him in a more positive tone, as he is a hero in comparison to the knight in the first text. The loathly lady has a detailed description, which gives the audience a more vivid picture such as:
“Her mouth wide, her teeth all yellow.
Her eyes were bleary, as large as balls,…she had ugliess to spare. (Pg. 10)
Resources:
Chaucer, Geoffrey (c.1390). The Wife of Bath.
Hahn, T. (Ed.). (1995). The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame
Ragnelle.In Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales.
Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications
Well answered.
DeleteQuestion 2:
ReplyDeleteThe Wife of Bath’s Taleis considered by some critics to indicate that Chaucer may have been a feminist. Why might they believe this? Do you agree? Remember to cite evidence from the text or some other source.
It might be sound to argue that there is certain social feminism issue in the work of The Wife of Bath’s Tale than to agree on the statement that Chaucer might be a feminist.
Through the work, it tends to deliver that interpretation would be varied widely. In addition, there is no evidence regarding the intention of Chaucer.Men in the work can be symbolized as a target of social criticism as they are imputed to be misogynistic and controlling. Women, on the other hand, are most likely to be the symbol of manipulation or gossip (which depends on how one interprets it), while tackling the unfair and inequality situation of them in marriage (Carruthers, 1979).
The representation of Chaucer regarding the Wife can be labelled as both feminism and anti-feminism, which, as discussed previously, refers to one’s point of view. Cleverly, Chaucer has used thefirst-person narrator such that the readers can make their own judgments over the Wife.But the judgments might be based oncontradictionsand ironies, which can be indicated through the synopses and commentary of the work(Carruthers, 1979). Meanwhile, the state of marriage in the work is described to be unsatisfactory, since even Jankinand Alison’s mutual agreement has only achievedmuchel care and wo.
It is worth pointing out that the work might value women and their thoughts superficially such as stating their opinions as sought through the quest, but, in general, denigrates them, which can be concluded based on the following evidence (Chaucer, 1483),
1) Only the Queen is the icon of a powerful and wise female, even though her power was from her husband;
2) The old woman in the work had to transform into a young one. Otherwise, she might not be able to be fully satisfactory; and
3) The raped girl that spoke to wrong women totally disappeared from the work.
References
• Chaucer, G. (1483). The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Canterbury Tales. William Caxton. 2ndEdition.
• Carruthers, M. (1979). The Wife of Bath and the Painting of Lions. PMLA94 (2): 209–222. doi:10.2307/461886.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete2.)
ReplyDeleteIn the time that this piece was written (14th century) women were viewed as submissive and lesser to men. Men made all the decisions and occupied both public and physical space in society, meanwhile women were not allowed to leave their homes unless they were escorted by a man. Women viewed as chid bearers and married young to fulfil this purpose, Domestic abuse towards women was common and accepted.
The wife of bath or ‘Alisoun’ uses the sexual nature of being a women to her advantage so that she has power over her husbands. She is also extremely outspoken. This contradicts how most women were in this time (submissive and passive). She herself had been married five times and states “Three of them were good and two were bad” some bet her and some she did love but she still welcomed more. She uses her life experience as well as the Bible in order to oppose the normal concepts of authority.
An example of how she shows the dominance that women can have over their husbands can be seen through the line “And he will be my debtor and my slave. And in the flesh his troubles will be grave as long as I continue as his wife; for I will have the power all my life over his body and never be” (155-159). This shows how Alisoun has a different viewpoint than most women of this time, as she does not want to be pressed and controlled, rather wants to take the control from her husband and show him how it feels to be inferior. It as if she is giving hints to other women on how to gain the upper hand over their partners.
Although this piece from a modern standpoint may seen to align with feminist ideals. I am unsure whether this was the intention of the author, or whether he was just displaying something contrasting to what was common in the time for literary effect or to create a sense of irony. As in the period that this piece was written there was no ideals of feminism and although Chaucer does not write in a way that is anti women he does still pick fun at some of the traits of women in his tales. Such as when he makes fun of women talking to much, he does play on women's tendencies to create humour or effect. I don't think his representation of a strong and outspoken women needs to be over analysed as he wrote about many varied characters throughout the Canterbury Tales. So I am unconvinced that he was a strong feminist, more so he wanted to represent a large range of characters or explored the uncommon for literary effect.