Commentary on The Canterbury Tales Essay

In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffery Chaucer, he starts with the description of twenty-nine people that are going on a pilgrimage. Each person is described by their personality and a description of the clothes they are wearing to try to get the reader to understand each character individually. When he describes The Wife of Bath, he introduces her in a very explicit way. He discusses her clothes and physical features and includes many references to her past. The description of her causes wonder on how she fits in with other women during that time period. Chaucers representation of The Wife of Bath portrays her as a contradiction to societal values and authority of marriage against bible beliefs.

In the General Prologue, Chaucer is very descriptive when describing the Wife of Bath. He describes her from her clothes to her facial features causing the reader to realize that the Wife of Bath is much different than the other women within that society. When describing her he specifically includes that she has gap-teeth, set widely (General Line 477) which according to the Wife of Bath symbolized sensuality and lust. The reader get the impression that she was very religious because Chaucer chose to include that she wore on Sunday, on her head (Line 465). Wearing her Sunday clothes symbolizes how religion is important to her which was the impression the reader got. Most people that are religious usually stay committed to their relationships. When Chaucer states that shed have five husbands all at the church door (Line 470). Repetition of having multiple husbands causes the reader to get a different impression of the Wife of Bath then what was originally presented. When someone is very religious they are usually very honest and worthy towards their husbands but when one passes away they grieve for a while. When her fourth husband passes away she plans a funeral which a normal person would. While attending the funeral that is when she finds her fifth husband and she states, in marrying me, suppose my husbands dead (Prologue Line 31). With the diction of suppose means she did not fully love him proving how she could move on quickly. The introduction of the Wife of Bath challenges her beliefs and views of society which are presented in her prologue.

In the Wife of Baths Prologue, she presents herself in an opposite way than Chaucer presents her causing conflict on whom she really is. In the Wife of Baths prologue she presents herself as a woman with an independent thought but she is not trying to present herself in that way. She uses the Bible text associated with the male authority to reference to her beliefs. Since she uses the bible it makes her show that Chaucer is not trying to present her as an independent thought and independent action person. The goal of Chaucer is to present her character in a way where she sees the negative side of women, were they see beliefs a different way. The wife of Bath makes it clear that women use their body as a weapon meaning that they use it to their advantage and that is how they get what they want. She betrays her ideas that and her insights of women when she says in her prologue that virginity is indeed a great perfection (Prologue line 45). This line proves that she follows the beliefs of the Bible and that virginity is important until marriage has taken place in your life. The diction of perfection proves that the perfect lifestyle falls under the beliefs of the Bible and religious values. Her non-religious actions cause her to give the stereo type of women that they are not smart enough to get the deep understanding of the Bible. Throughout the story she continues to give a negative stereo type to women. Especially when she states in her prologue that if she is not getting what she want from her husband she cuts him off from sexual favors. In the Wife of Baths eyes she is doing everything correctly, and she has been an expert as a wife [she] has been the whip. (line 75-76). The diction of whip proves how she believes that she has more power and authority over her husband which is against what the Bible says and that the husbands have more authority over the wives. Also, when she believes she is and expert wife it also shows that she is a perfectionist and does not do anything wrong. Much like the Wife of Baths Prologue, her tale also represents herself as a person and a character, which is why her Tale can be compared to her life.

Chaucers representation of The Wife of Bath portrays her as a contradiction to societal values and authority of marriage against bible beliefs. In the General Prologue, and the Wife of Baths Prologue and Tale, she symbolizes the negative beliefs of women in that time period. She goes against what the Bible beliefs are making her look as a bad person causing other people to get the wrong impression on all women during that specific time period.