Oppression Of Women In The Knights's Tale By Chaucer

Throughout the Elizabethan era, men had more advantages than women. William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew has characters such as Petruchio, Baptista, Katherine, and Bianca that show how men overpowered women. During the Elizabethan era, there was heavy sexism. Women were discriminated. Through Shakespeare’s language, men could speak to and about women in a disrespectful and derogatory manner. Women were voiceless and deprived of their right to speak. Women were inferior to men. During the Elizabethan era, through Shakespeare’s language, and in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, it is proven that men had more advantages than women.

“ Work of women was vital to everyday life they did far more than cook and sew. They didn’t have refrigerators or packaged food so women had to do a lot of work to prepare a meal. Women had to carry water from the well, and had to keep a garden, and take care of the animals” (Dean). Women did a lot of work that went unseen by other people.If they didn’t have women then a lot of things wouldn’t have gotten done. Men don’t know how much women really did for them and their family. “ Most women worked 12 hours a day. Any man in the family could order the wife to do as he wishes. If she didn’t listen she was beaten” (Women During the Middle Ages). Men could order women around to do anything they wanted them to do. Women didn’t even get to choose where they wanted to work or what they wanted to do. Women didn’t have a right to do what they wanted if they did what they wanted and the man didn’t like it then they would be beaten. Women did many jobs and it sometimes depended on their level of skill and sometimes depended on their wealth sometimes it even depended on where they live. “ Urban women assisted their father and husband in trades and crafts, including production of textile, leather goods, metal work, and running shop and inns” (Bovey). “90% of women lived in rural areas. They were involved in farm work” (C N). If you lived in urban areas you did skilled work and if you lived in rural

Women should be at one with their being and be able to speak on social and psychic truths. Chaucer is an author that goes against what would be considered normal for this time period. He attempts to write as a female to represent a female perspective and enter into debate about the role of a woman. Stated in the text, “We can argue straightforwardly that women were marginalized and subordinate, that women lived and suffered under patriarchy.”(Treacher133). Women were viewed as being inferior. Are we to believe and follow the views created by men and for men? Chaucer is a man who creates a story told by a woman for woman and men. He seeks to show that women can speak up and does not need approval by men, “But that the Queen and other ladies as well implored the King to exercise his grace, so ceaselessly, he gave the Queen the case and granted her his life, and she could choose whether to show him mercy or refuse.” (Chaucer157). In the example, the King and the Queen represents at a higher power how a male and female is to be equal. It is shown that the Queen’s opinion and a woman’s opinion in general are just as important and purposeful as the King’s opinion. Chaucer uses the scenario of two powerful authority figures, the King and Queen, as an example for others to follow. The idea of the queen being able to make decisions concerning the knight, and the husband passing his power to his wife shows an equal relationship. The king and queen was used as a symbol that

There are three women in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the prioress, the wife of Bath and the prostitute in the Shipman’s Tale. The prioress and the wife of Bath are the only ones of the three that have a fully developed part of the overall work. They are equal to the male characterizations; the prostitute is only minor player. Women are rarely mentioned in the other pilgrim’s tales. The wife of Bath and the Prioress are examples of strong medieval women. As Chaucer depicts them, they are a departure from the typical sinful daughters of Eve with the exception of the prostitute. The wife Dame Alisoun, and the prioress are both pious, successful females but they are still under the domain of men. Chaucer’s women are still part of the patriarchal world of the late middle ages.

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath upholds the misogynistic ideas of her time. In “The Wife of Bath's Tale”, the reader learns that the Wife of Bath’s name is Alice. In her tale, the reader also learns that she has had five husbands. The Wife of Bath upholds the misogynistic idea of her time because she is very forthcoming about her sexuality and her relationships with her husbands.

In today's society, gender roles have changed dramatically. Not only do we see women playing men's roles, but men also take on responsibilities typically attributed to females. Women are no longer looking for a man to take care of them, but instead, they are going out into the real world to fend for themselves and make a living. Men no longer hold the title of provider exclusively, they can also be caretakers and trophy husbands. Women no longer wait for their husbands to get home from work or stay at home all day, but instead, have jobs and have equal rights. We no longer live in a world where men are the highest authority and woman are left at the bottom. In the stories that we have read Chaucer and other authors have always misinterpreted the role woman and, have made women seem inferior to men.

Over the course of time the role of women in society and in the home has changed drastically. Many brave women have fought and worked tirelessly to earn the right to vote, for equal pay, and to all around be treated the same way as men get treated. In literature, especially early literature, we see major differences in women’s roles both inside the home and out in the world.

Women in the medieval times were cast into very distinct roles. There was a strict code of conduct that was followed. They were to be submissive to their husbands and follow their lead. A woman's place was also in the home and the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, sewing, etc. fell into their domain. Women who deviated from these cultural-set norms made for interesting characters. Chaucer's use of women and their overstepping their boundaries and typical roles in society make them most memorable.

A large part of the study of literature deals with interpreting the original meaning of a work and attempting to understand how it applies to modern day readers. As with other pieces of literature, this is also true for Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue,” where many contemporary scholars hail Chaucer as feminist icon for his depiction of an eloquent, independent woman. This interpretation, however, is flawed because it is highly anachronistic. Feminism, as we understand the term today, did not emerge until the 19th Century. Though there were certainly medieval writers who wrote about the relationships of the sexes, such as Christine de Pizan, these works did not focus on equality and the independence of women the way feminism would

In the 21st century, many women have been successful because of feminism. Women empowerment in our current time is a lot strong than in the Medieval period, but it is still weak. In “The Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer it represents strong feminist characters in, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”. The characters such as a Wife of Bath, an old hag, and also a Queen from “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale,” play a feminist character in the male-dominated society during that time. Through these three characters, we see strong examples of feminism.

During the Elizabethan Era, and present throughout MND, both men and women were expected to act according to the roles set upon them by their society. Men were dominant and superior in society, politics and intellect (Master’s). They often held high positions of authority in both domestic and social

The women in these texts portray their power through sexuality. This is one of the abilities that women can offer to have maximum power. Women are usually shown as an impotent object that can only bare children and are expected to be mothers. Women typically are not seen as warriors or heroes, because of the antifeminist views by men back in the medieval texts. “The Canterbury tales: the wife of bath’s prologue” by Chaucer is about a woman who exercises power and authority through her instrument of sexuality towards her husbands. This woman has utter control over her men, which proves the statement that women do exert power over men in these medieval passages. The second passage called, “The Canterbury tales: the Miller’s prologue and

Chaucer shows what a true advocate for feminism he is. He takes his female character and shows how she is not an obedient subservient to man. Chaucer uses this woman to gain power by using her feminine features along with her brain. He gives a good comparison to a lady of what that period considered a good woman vs. alys an evil woman. Chaucer then gives her the ability to define each of her actions as if she were a man. Chaucer shows how much he respected woman by this because it shows his thought that though woman were not just tools to be used by men but are weapons of themselves. Not through their physical strength but their wits and bodies.

From Geoffrey Chaucer to Donald Trump, history has seductively seen women pinned as the lesser of the sexes, poked as the inferior to the male, prodded as subject to their authority. Sexism infiltrates all aspects of a female’s life: from at home, to work, to worship there is little to no escape. It was not until the 20th century when a motion dubbed Feminism sparked and ignited women everywhere, no matter their location on the globe, to fight for their rights. However, the women of the late 14th century stood alone as the counterpart to men, the fully dependent creature. The 1392 prologue of The Canterbury Tales embodies the portrayal of women during this time period: Geoffrey Chaucer, the male author, exerts his dominance with a mocking

Shakespeare and the members of the Elizabethan era would be appalled at the freedoms women experience today.  The docility of Elizabethan women is almost a forgotten way of life. What we see throughout Shakespeare’s plays is an insight into the female character as perceived by Elizabethan culture.  Shakespeare’s female characters reflect the Elizabethan era’s image of women; they were to be virtuous and obedient and those that were not were portrayed as undesirable and even evil.