Chaucer, And Authority

2 Pages 616 Words

“The Canterbury Tales” & Authority

In Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” the authority handed down from The Wife of Bath is a guideline for authority in all relationships. The Wife of Bath tells of her vast experience with relationships, and the manipulation of her husbands. She expresses her last husband was firm, but fair. The Wife of Bath also acknowledges her own stubbornness “Stubborn I was as is a lioness,/ And with my tongue a very jay, I guess...” (pg. 118) and that she did not always act as she should towards her husband.
In The Wife of Bath’s tale, The Old Women is a model wife. She wishes to please her new husband, and offers him the ultimatum to have her has an ugly, but faithful wife, or to have a beautiful wife who would make him a cuckold. Her heart is in the right place, and she holds no grudge against a man who obviously does not like her appearance, and has not yet shown respect to her or other women. When the Knight submits to his wife, she becomes the best of both worlds. The Wife of Bath uses this to stress her moral “And I pray to Jesus to cut short the lives/ Of those who’ll not be governed by their wives;” (pg. 135) which shames men who will not oblige their wives.
Although The Wife of Bath’s tale advocates men to be obedient and submissive, The Wife of Bath does not intend for women to be the dominant figure in the household. She talks often in her prologue of what a wise women would do, and implies that wicked women need to be kept in line by their husbands. The Wife of Bath explains why she is not like many women, and has no need to subject to her husband;
“A wise women will strive continually
To get herself loved, when she’s not, you see.
But since I had them wholly in my hand,
And since to me they’d given all their land,
Why should I take heed, then, that I should please,
Save it were for my profit or for my ease?” because she can provide for herself, and...