Sexism In The Canterbury Tales Essay

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Women in the Middle Ages dealt with sexism in all areas of their lives, with not much representation of their experiences. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales features a mix of male and female characters that allows for stories from the contrasting experiences of the sexes. The various points of view provide commentary on the treatment of women by others and women’s own views on gender standards, while still revealing Chaucer’s personal opinions towards issues facing women at the time.
The introductions of the contrasting characters of Chaucer’s tales divulge the drastically different treatment of men and women in the Middle Ages. The male characters value honor and bravery, but the Wife of Bath’s tale reveals abandonment of these values, …show more content…
Alice, the Wife of Bath, deals with unhealthy relationships but manipulates her first four husbands to work in her favor. She treats the men as they would treat her before they get the chance. She shares, “I will have a husband who will be both my debtor and servant, and have his tribulation upon his flesh, while I am his wife” (NeCastro 156-159). The Wife of Bath takes full control so that her husbands may not. She declines the passive role due to a preconceived notion of the relationship between men and women: that the woman must hold the lesser role. She further goes on to challenge the double standards about marriage for women. Many tell her that marrying more than once qualifies as a sin, while many less say the same towards men, and she responds by asserting, “God expressly instructed us to increase and multiply” (NeCastro 28-29). She fights the solidity of her doubters’ argument by using their text, the Bible, against them. She uses her clever nature and knowledge of the text used against her to manifest her thoughts on the way people treat women and the restrictions they face. The Wife of Bath’s unwavering certainty on her opinions exhibits the mindset of women and one approach to combatting their
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