The Norman conquest brought many changes to the British Isles, including changes in language and literature. Gone were the days of loyalty to tribal leaders and themes of war and fighting. In their place took themes of warmth, light and love.
Geoffrey Chaucer brought new literary techniques from France and Italy and developed English poetry, and thus made English a language of literature. Being born into the middle class, he was able to see clearly the oppression of the peasants by the court and church, and was very critical of both powers. His work "The Canterbury Tales" is a satrical work criticising people from all walks of life in English society. The Wife of Bath is one such example, with her outrageous behaviour. Some people have viewed her as the first feminist character in English literature; others say that it is more likely for her to be an antifeminist character given the context of the work.
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Themes of old English works were "loyalty to the king,loyalty
to the kinsmen,bloodfeuds,revenge".
However;these themes were replaced by "romances,love songs,spring,
flowers" in the middle English.It is like the birth of a good person out of the bad one or it is like replacement of the black-white TVs by the coloured ones:).I think the wife of Bath,partly,represent the people that do forbidden things,and try to vindicate themselves with lame excuses.For example in one part ,she says-to explain why she get married 5 times-"GOD bade us to increase and multiply".Nevertheless she has no child:).
The purpose of this story is to teach young women how to be model wives.The wife of Bath,Dame Alisoun,is one of the ONLY two female characters who tell tales in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.She is often viewed as a precursor of feminist thought,but some scholars argue that much of her Prologue can be viewed as anti-feminist rhetoric!
Geoffrey Chaucer is an inscrutable man ,i think. He is a member of a middle class family ,however; he made revolution in English Literature. It should be very hard for someone who belongs to middle class to do so many important things.Also, i thought that he was an aristocrat in the exam :). For Wife of Bath, i think she is not an acceptable figure in society.
Many aspects of society were revealed throughout the tales of the many characters. One such aspect prevalent in many of the tales was the role that women played in society during this time. The tales give the clearest images of women are the Knight's, the Miller's. the Nun's Priest, and the Wife of Bath's Tale.ln this tale, she married five men because in her time every women needs protecter and she was different from women who lived at her time.Although the wife of bath is in essence, a member of the middle class, she is a member of the lowest class in the eyes of the church.
The middle english literature wasn't intended for warrior audience as Anglo-Saxon days.There were love poems which were personal in nature.Middle english is different from old english In middle english grammar was simplified and vocabulary greatly enlarged.In old english vocabulary was primarily Germsnic but middle english was enriched by borrowed words.
HATİCE ÖZBAŞI.
In The Wife of Bath, Geoffrey Chaucer trys to tell how to be a fairy woman, but he doesn’t tell the character of a fairy woman .Instead, he shows an example of a lusty woman and satirizes that woman.Thus, he doesn’t tell the target,he tells only the direction…
The woman is a bad example both her time and today.she says she married to have a child,but she did not have a child.it is very interesting. HATİCE ERDOĞAN
the story is very interesting.the woman is gap teethed and it means a good thing.very interesting .HATİCE ERDOĞAN
it is a bad thing to have a gap theeted.ı write a wrong thing a few minutes ago.PARDON.HATİCE ERDOĞAN
The wife of Bath was a very unusual character, especially for her time.For example, she had five husbands and it was unacceptable to marry more than once in those days. In the story she represents a lusty woman and it is aimed to teach the young how to be good wives.
Yasemin YILMAZ
She is a different kind of woman both in her timeand in our time.She doesn't reflect a good model of a wife;she doesn't like her husbands,and she doesn't have kids :O
This story is a good model to critise someone. because if we want to warn someone about his/her faulty we sould say it by indirect way and in front of everyone so that everyone conculade a lesson . and this story makes this very effectively.
The Wife of Bath tells about her life and her struggles with men. I think this prologue shows different ways of women getting what they want from men.It is about a power struggle between men and women and a woman who has the power of life and death over her men.She also talked about the authority she had over her husbands.
The Wife of Bath..It tells how women should behave,but the woman in the poem is not a good example of this.It is interesting ,and tells us a woman that we are not familiar.
I thought that feminist approaches began after French revolution in
18th century,but I discerned some feminist ideas in Geoffrey Chaucer's tale Wife of Bath.(14th century)The woman refuses to be protected by a husband;however,she marries five times.This is new to our culture:)What is more,receiving her husbands inheritance,she becomes rich.
Şeyda Çeşmeci
The Wife of Bath was a very unusual character, especially for the time of the novel. In the first place, she had five husbands, four of whom died. In the fourteenth century it was seemingly unacceptable to marry more than once, much less five times: "He taught me by example there to see that it is wrong to marry more than once." For a woman who hated marriage, she certainly had a variety of experiences with her many husbands...
Among the pilgrms of GEOFFREY CHAUSER's Canterbury tales the wife of bath one of the most amusing and memorable.In her prologue she boasts of how she had five husband , over whom she had dominance, and tales she tells , as well as the arguments she puts forward in her prologue , serve to reinforce in principles ,what she achivedd in practice.
HATİCE ÖZBAŞI.
The Wife of Bath was a very unusual character, especially for the time of the novel. In the first place she had 5 husbands, 4 of whom died. In the fourteenth century it was unacceptable to marry more than once, and The wife clearly in her relationships, enjoyed having the power and control of her husbands. I think she was the most powerful character that was created in the Middle Ages, but there are still some argues about whether she had a feminist or anti-feminist view..??
ıt is really interesting story. ıt shows how wife would be in daily life. in this story, the wife is not beatiful, but forceful and vivacious. ıt is good example to women ın our culture. she had five husbands. maybe she wanted to show their power against to men. ı think ıt is feminist behaviour!
I think Geoffery Chaucer was very watchful man, for he wrote a story like The Wife of Bath. Maybe this is because that he belonged to the middle class. He knew the way people lived on his days. He taught us how to react faulties of people...
The Wife of Bath was an odd woman. She had 5 husbands, 4 of whom died. is it possible that having husbands money is her aim? If there are such women in today, men BE CAREFUL!!! :)
in Wife of Bath Tale, a woman is in the leading role but this woman is different from others in terms of marriage-married five times-, behaviour-like a man-, thinkings- does not take notice people around her. I think everybody can not do what she did!
Thanks teacher. We analysed the work of Chaucer(The Wife of Bath)in the lesson. I realised that the themes in literature changed, because there was no war:) and there was no LOYALTY to the a leader. It is altogether out of question!Loyalty. The woman has 5 marriages. Who knows how her husbands died or WAS KILLED?
Among the Pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales The Wife of Bath is one of the most amusing and memorable. In her prologue she boasts of how she has had five husbands, over whom she has gained dominance, and the tale she tells, as well as the arguments she puts forward in her prologue
The Wife of Bath presents herself as the authority on marriage and marital life. She comments on the social and legal position of women in marriage and daily life. She claims she has her knowledge from experience, not from scriptural authority. Rather than rejecting scriptural authority, she appeals to logic thus rejecting too strict interpretations of scriptural rules and commandments.
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