essay

Tianyang Shen

Bus3920

Essay1

4/13/2020

The Wife of Bath and the Prioress

The events that unfold before the tale of the Wife of Bath already

set the path for us readers as Chaucer intends it to be. The reader on

reading the prologue already has ideas of the characters that will fall next

in line. Chaucer describes The Wife of Bath as a woman with a need for

control, an independent woman. Previous women in previous episodes

are seen to be submissive and silent. The antithesis to this portrayal of

women as submissive and silent is the Wife of Bath. She is one to decry

for authority and power. Chaucer’s England is not the best place to be as

a woman. Simple misdeeds like verbal transgressions would be followed

by a corporal and physical punishments. However, the Wife of Bath

declares that she will boycott and oppose all of these dominant aversions

to women in her own time and under her terms.

“Experience, though noon auctoritee /Were in this world, is right

ynogh for me / To speke of wo that is in marriage" [1-3]

The Wife of Bath’s character is first seen when she interrupts the

conversation between the Host and the Parson. The Wife of Bath appears

to be a vehement and vociferous speaker. She immediately asserts herself

into the reader's mind when she says “Heer schal he nat preche; / He

schal no gospel glosen here ne teche. . . My joly body schal a tale telle"

Chaucer portrays the Wife of Bath as a character who does not seem to

turn down. The Wife of Bath is fond of interrupting to assert her ideas

into conversations. She is depicted in her prologue where she describes

how she gained the upper hand on her first three husbands. In this little

world as depicted by Chaucer, the Wife of Bath does not have many

options at her disposal. However, this does not deter her from raising and

dominating in a male-dominated world. She uses her deceitful ways and

scolding speeches to get her way.

The Wife of Bath uses the mimic trick on her first three husbands.

She is seen to recite what her three husbands say to her. This, in turn,

pays back full fold when she gains some sense of independence. The

Wife of Bath can destabilize the male-dominated word by assuming

garrulity and deceit. She uses an arrogant patriarchal voice with which

she parodies her male counterparts. These tactics are quite the bunch and

they make her heard in this masculine dominant world.

The Wife of Bath goes on to criticize the people who tend to gloss the

Bible. Those whose aim is too disparate the spiritual meaning in the

scriptures. The Wife of Bath drives her point home by accessing these

same scriptures and responding to them. She is seen to identify with

Solomon and his pleasures. Moreover, the Wife of Bath goes ahead and

censures Jesus’ ideas regarding marrying multiple spouses. She also cites

men in the Bible like Jacob, Abraham, and Solomon as to have married

more than one wife. The Wife of Bath is also seen to reprimand the

Parson when he glosses the ‘Man of Law’s Epilogue’ which does not

please the Wife of Bath. She uses these words

“He schal no gospel glosen here ne teche.”

The Wife of Bath also uses her sexuality to gain ground in the

masculine dominated world. She freely and unwittingly uses this as the

commodity to heave and gain as much power as she could from her

husbands. She is quite willing to trade sex for power and goods in her

marriages. However, in her later marriages especially with her husband,

she is seen to evade from using these tactics. Against her fourth husband,

she turns to adultery to rebel against him or more so to make him jealous.

She is seen to alter her method as opposed to her first three husbands

whom she did not have any sexual interest in. However, when her

adulterous tactics seem to fade away in terms of dominating her fourth

husband, she turns to verbal reprimands.

The Wife of Bath is not the only character depicted by Chaucer to

have an alternative way of life as opposed to other women during the

Middle Ages (Medieval Times). The Prioress is another woman who

stood up for what she believed in. We see the Prioress tell the tell-tale

story of the Virgin Mary. However, the Prioress focuses more on her

sensitization on Christian martyrdom. First of all, it is important to note

that the Prioress opted to take nun vows instead of marriage vows. Now

in this time, this was not the lesser option, hence, the Prioress is seen to

stand up for herself way ahead of her time. Moreover, nuns were given

more freedom over their governance as opposed to other women in

society at the time. Freedom such as the right to vote in for their Bishops

and other leaders.

The Prioress was endowed with superior responsibilities like taking

care of her convent. She was regarded as the superior mother charged

with the physical and spiritual well-being of her subordinates. She was

also bound to have other convent business outside of the church. This is

in some sense shows her superiority by indulging in a men’s world to

conduct business with them. However, this was not all free movements as

the Prioress was assigned a ‘chapeleyne’ to escort her in most of her

outside movements. This ‘chapeleyne’ is commonly known as the Second

Nun was occasionally assigned to watch the Prioress’ movements even

within the compound.

Despite all of these restrictions the Prioress ultimately found a way to

overcome the authoritative power of her Bishop. She refused to

completely submit to the wishes of the male authority in the church.

However, the Prioress outdoes herself by understanding and utilizing the

Benedictine Rule and its vast knowledge to have more freedom and

mobility in the large community. Originally a middle-class member of the

community, the Prioress asserts her aristocratic nature over other lesser

pilgrims. She dominantly asserts her feminine dominance as opposed to

acting meek as the normal woman was expected to do. This kind of

character does not seem courtly as a humble woman was supposed to

behave. As opposed to this, she is a strong woman who is capable of self-

defense as well as personal growth.

Another form of defiance, as opposed to the norm of women in her

era, is that the Prioress was fond of small dogs and mice. This is seen in

her statement

“She was so charitable and so pitous

She wolde wepe, if that she saugh a mous” [142-150].

Technically, it was forbidden to keep pets, especially in convents. This

kind of defiance from the Prioress is seen as a form of independence. She

is sympathetic to small dogs and mice that are smitten by men (Chaucer,

Glaser, (n.d).

References

Chaucer G., Glaser J., (n.d). The Canterbury Tales in Modern Verse

(Hackett Classics).