Wife of Bath in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales - Research Paper Example

Chaucer’s Challenge to the Patriarchal Notion of a Woman: The Wife of Bath The character of the Wife of Bath in Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” provides an intelligible picture of what a “woman” means in the 14th century. In this paper, the word “woman” has not been used in its most objective sense. Rather here it has been used as a term that is fraught with what and how women are culturally perceived by the women themselves as well as the men of that period, and, after all, by the whole society. The portrayals of some of Chaucer’s other female characters render a vivid picture of what his society expects –also do not expect- from women and what the patriarchy wants a woman to be. But Chaucer portrays the character of the Wife of Bath to show how a woman could react to those male expectations of his society. Indeed his portrayal of this character is asexual in the sense that coming out of the boundary of a male-expected notion of a woman, Chaucer delves deep into a woman’s individuality to challenge those rigid beliefs of the male-dominated society. Even if Chaucer is not purely asexual as some critics claim, Chaucer’s portrayal of the Wife of Bath is endowed with a kind of rational sympathy. Chaucer’s portrayal is rationally sympathetic in the sense that he was able to perceive the agony of a woman’s inferior, restricted and subjugated position in a male dominated society, as Somerville says, “Chaucer is an asexual author in the sense that he writes above the jealousies and misunderstandings of male/female relationships and there is impartiality and tolerance in his writing” (1). Again referring to Chaucer’s rationally sympathetic approach to the portrayal of his female characters, she says, “He has special insight into the female experience and that allows him to sympathize with the marginalized position of women in the 14th century” (Somerville 2). Chaucer depicts gender in a way that reveals how sexuality and gender have been politicized by the culture and society in his era, as Somerville notes, “Chaucer considers all questions of gender and in his writing he demonstrates how sexuality is politicized and how the resulting balance of power is codified in literature and culture” (1). The Wife of Bath is the most extraordinary female whom different critics interpret from different points of view with a view to exploring the gender construct of Chaucerian society. Whereas some critics evaluate the character of the Wife of Bath as a corrupted and debauched one, most of the Critics assert that the notoriety of the Wife of Bath can be interpreted as her individual tendency to follow her own pursuits. According the morals of Chaucer’s society, the Wife of Bath seems to propound the belief of the Medieval Society that women are innately deceitful and corrupted in nature, as Somerville says in this regard, “The wife represents….rehearses all anti-feminist arguments that see women as naturally prone to deceit, adultery and other mortal sins” (2). At the same time, the Wife of Bath’s reasoning power to support her own end upholds her as Chaucer’s challenge to the beliefs and notions of his society about a woman. She continues to argue against what the medieval patriarchy considers as women’s immorality and debauchery. She uncouthly admits that a woman’s desire to possess her husband as her love and to get the dominance over him, as she says, “Wommen desiren to have sovereyntee / As wel over hir housbond as his love, / And for to been in maintrie hin above” (Chaucer 203). For the 14th century readers, the Wife of Bath as a debauched deceiver is the reflection of the Biblical assumption of women. Such portrayal of the Wife would highly be appreciated by the readers of the Chaucerian society. Here Chaucer uncannily assumes to assign a two-fold meaning to the character. In the first place, the readers become disgusted to see a sexually corrupted woman who can thoroughly argue for her sexual role that is obviously questionable in the eye of her society. But the way in which the Wife of Bath argues against the beliefs of the male dominated society about woman seems to be irrefutable. Nonetheless an astute reader will find that the way Chaucer portrays the Wife of Bath upholds her as a heroine who is overtly feminine and very independent in nature. The Wife’s story starts in defense of her many marriages. She argues that her marriages are all legal and all of them are recognized by the Church. She points out that her marriages were not unquestioningly accepted by the Churchmen though there is no biblical evidence against remarriage of woman, As she says, “Eke well I wot he said that my husband / Should let father and mother, and take to me; / But of no number mentïon made he, / Of bigamy or of octogamy; / Why should men then speak of it villainy?” She throws a challenge to everyone to prove her wrong on the fact that the Holy Scripture has not set a limit to the number of successive marriages that a woman can have throughout her life. Again she argues against the traditional notion of patriarchy that a man’s polygamy is justifiable because men are capable of performing sexual intercourse vigorously with many women. She says that though a man who is capable of performing intercourse with many women is rare, King Solomon had many wives. She believes in King Solomon’s virility since it is in the Scripture. Yet she wonders, “Which gift of God had he for all his wives, / No man hath such, that in this world alive is” (40-41). The portrayal of the Wife ultimately propounds Chaucer’s power to view the world from a woman’s point of view, orientate her position in a male dominated society and go into conflict with the male authority to ensure her position. Referring to this two sided interpretation of the character of the Wife of Bath, Somerville says, “She is obviously lusty and aggressive but how these traits are interpreted depends…on the audience’s view…for others she is sensual and attractive and extremely feminine…rebelling against constraints and oppression of medieval culture.” (3) Most of Chaucer’s female characters play either on the line of male expectation or on the line of debauchery and immorality. But these transgressions are strictly defined by the male standard of morality and male ethics of chastity that are assigned to women. At a first glance, the Wife seems to be lusty and sensuous and the one who has married five men for satisfying her sexual appetite. But her reasoning is so convincing that Chaucer’s patriarchal society’s negative attitude towards women’s remarriage seems to be blown off. Since Chaucer’s other female characters practices adultery at the back of their husbands, according to the male definition, they are morally corrupted, even though their sexual corruptions are, to a great extent, the result of their husbands’ impotence. But the Wife’s reasoning prevent the readers to align her with other morally corrupted characters. It is evident that Chaucerian society is utterly male dominated. In such a male dominated society the struggle of the Wife of Bath rather proves her bravery to face the world around her. Works Cited Chaucer, Jeffrey, The Canterbury Tales, New York: Hacket Publishers, 2004 Somerville, A. Carol, “Chaucer's Approach to Gender in Canterbury Tales”, July 17, 2009. April 09, 2010. Available at Read More