The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale: How Male Characters Should Appear of Canterbury'. At 856 lines his prologue, or "preambulacioun" as the Summoner calls it, is the longest of all the pilgrims and corresponds to the General Prologue except for a few verses Chaucer is evidently infatuated with Alisoun, as he satirically plays with issues of both gender and class through the Wife's robust rhetoric. Both scholars and students have continued this obsession with her, and consequently the greater widow of Chaucer has been subject to centuries of scrutiny, she is in great minority among the pilgrims going to Canterbury, apart from the Prioress in vogue, she is the only woman, although she does not appear in any way; discouraged by the apparent numerical inequality. It almost seems a crime to examine masculinity in her prologue and narrative, but, as I hope to demonstrate, there is much to learn about both the Wife and Chaucer from this male presence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay If we consider that Chaucer chose his pilgrims with careful precision to present a cross-section of late medieval society, the small number of female travelers can be seen as a clear reminder of the patriarchal culture in which the Wife existed. However, despite Alisoun's vigorous attack on the “old and angry nigardes,” Alisoun is the first to recognize the political ascendancy of men. His prologue is peppered with allusions to the great biblical patriarchs such as Abraham and Jacob: Behold, behold the wise king, daun Solomon; I believe he had wives more than early. (35-36)Here the Wife makes no attempt to deny Solomon's sovereignty, rather she praises him as a 'wise king'; his marital quarrels are of a social nature and it is for this purpose that he invokes his name. Importantly, Alisoun refers to the "ancient" patriarchs: not only is she willing to recognize the male monopoly on politics, but also the deeply entrenched nature of their hegemony, a recognition reinforced by setting her story in the old days of the king. Arthour?. Chaucer created a woman who, despite her fierce social ambitions, remains acutely aware of the civil order of her time. Masculinity is also clearly manifested in the scholasticism to which the Wife continually refers: St. Paul, St. Jerome and Theophrastus. Once again these are historical figures, and although she aims to neuter their learned authority with her own experience, the very fact that they are mentioned is an affirmation of their scholarly dominance. Ironically, the bombastic theology of such figures is applauded as much as it is attacked: Ovid's Midas is cited for his own purposes in the tale, while Ptolemy is extolled in the prologue: Of alle men yblessed moot he be, The Wise Astrologien , Daun Ptholome ... (323-324) His reference to the 'wise astrologer' echoes his description of Solomon as the 'wise king'; clearly in both cases she holds their intellect in the highest regard. Perhaps most striking in the Wife's tone is the humility that comes from her almost religious adoration of the man, and as these lines illustrate, there remains a certain degree of submission on Alisoun's part. Behind his verbal abuse lies a submissive quality on the part of the Wife, although this is not a negative characteristic. Only that which is full of contradictions is alive, said Bertolt Brecht, and it is her dichotomous personality that gives her so much enthusiasm and truly characterizes Chaucer's genius. However, the male presence in theprologue and in the story is not limited only to historical figures. , whose contribution is more thematic than personal. The main male components are Alisoun's five husbands, creations that we assume are Chaucer's own. The first three of these are not distinguished as individuals, but the Wife informs us they were rich and old: in layman's terms, mid-level sugar daddies. There seems to be nothing remotely patriarchal about this pathetic triumvirate, and Chaucer (through the Wife) presents them as utterly malleable: they are figures of fun, archetypes of what Alisoun considers a "good" husband: hond, and sith had made me yeven al hir london. (211-212) The first line is a Middle English idiom for control, a modern equivalent of which might be "under my thumb." However, it is impossible to ignore the sexual suggestion of this verse, which graphically illustrates the methods the Wife uses to achieve "maistrie." Meanwhile the pun “hoolly” can be interpreted as a joke about the sanctity of marriage, something Alisoun has little regard for. Here, as the reference to "lond" indicates, men are presented as the landowners: the powerful aristocrats whose ancestry is inextricably linked to their estates. Traditionally, a wife would simply become another of their possessions, but clearly the Wife has used sexual persuasion to manipulate and subvert such conventions, as she receives their property. In this case, Chaucer's presentation is socially pointed and amusingly ironic: men are powerful in theory, puny in practice. Husband number four, again unnamed, but at least described in dislocation, is not so flexible. The Wife describes him as a "revealer" who kept a mistress, a person who was supposedly immune to Alisoun's unique methods of manipulation. Yet this is not the case, and the presentation of masculinity as an easily governable force continues, as with superb ingenuity the Wife feigns a relationship: That in his owene grece I did friePer angre, and per verray jalousie. (487-488) Clearly he is a temperamental character, whose personality thus far appears in the same mold as that of the Summoner. Yet for all his wild activities, he still succumbs to the sexual deceptions of the Wife, and Alisoun herself confesses the extent to which she has bent his nature: how much I twist him. The Wife enjoys the victory with an almost perverse enjoyment. In fact there is even the hypothesis that it was she who brought him to his deathbed. Once again Alisoun denounces empowered masculinity as weak and feeble, and Chaucer's presentation of men maintains its coherence: despite political or physical supremacy, men retain an Achilles' heel in the form of the sexual act. However, the strength of the previous lines, with "angre" and "verray jalouse" highlights another aspect of masculinity: that of aggression. This manifests itself both verbally and physically; the first of which can be clearly seen in the confrontation between the Summoner and the Friar at the end of the prologue. While the friar nonchalantly ridicules his wife's chatter, the summoner explodes indignantly: "Lo", quod the Somonour, "Goddes armes two!". What follows is a humorous argument that amounts to little more than harsh words, but reaches its climax when the priest's seething sarcasm is countered by, I bishrewe your face - the epitome of the Summoner's simple optimism. The ease with which Harry Bailey quells the fight leads us to question whether there is a physical intent behind the aggressive language, as once again it is the lack of substance beneath the powerful façade of masculinity that becomes a source of amusement. However, this aggression takes a physical formrepressed in the tale, considerably darker than the amusing male misdeeds of the prologue: Women can now go up and down with complete safety. In every bush or under every tree There is noon another nightmare but him... (878 -880)Here the Wife demonstrates the most vindictive aspect of her nature, as she gets punishment for the Friar's previous interruption. At the same time Chaucer allows himself the opportunity for anticlerical social commentary. A "nightmare" is traditionally a male spirit who, according to popular tradition, would have sexual relations with sleeping maids, and this reference maintains the fairy-tale background of the Wife's tale. However, the hypothesis of nymphomania on the part of the friar is clear. The way in which such implications are obscured by the cotton wool of "elf queens" and "fairies" reflects the way in which immoral vices are practiced in the seclusion of bushes or under trees - evidently this sexual aggression is repressed. As before a clear distinction was drawn between male appearance and male reality, however, rather than power concealing weakness, the friar obscures sexual degradation with religious virtue. This idea of only superficial male authority and integrity seems equally present in the two main males of the piece: Jankin in the prologue and the young knight (or "lush bachelor") of the tale. As perpetrators of outrageously violent acts, both fail to meet the standards expected of their positions. The anonymous protagonist of the Arthurian romance of the Wife is anything but chivalrous: He saw a maiden accompanying him in bifurn, Whose maide anon, maugree hir heed, With true strength, he will raft his maiden. (886-888)The words 'force' and 'rafte' are stressed and stand out clearly in iambic pentameter. Their monosyllabic nature further accentuates the stress on the words, while the harsh dental plosives within 'rafts' heighten the sense of violence. There are no docile fairies here: Alisoun is sincere, and although she chooses not to reflect on the violation, she seems to be at pains to emphasize the aggressiveness of the act through the force of the last line. Furthermore, there are definite implications of struggle in the phrase "maugre hir heed". Such premeditated violence seems incongruous not only with the young man's status, but also with the almost polite nature of the narrative. Such rape is the antithesis of the Knight's Tale and this reminds us that we are hearing not Chaucer's view of masculinity, but that of the Wife - a view that has its foundation in experience. Indeed, this experience may be that of her fifth marriage to Jankin, a man who as a former Oxenford employee combines scholasticism and marital commitment. For such a cultured male you would expect him to be passive - "above" the stereotypical brutal behavior of the Summoner. However, as with friars and knights in training such expectations would be incorrect, and following Alisoun's petty vandalism of Jankin's misogynistic book of wicked wives, he literally beats her deaf: I'm listening. (794-795) The prolonged “o” sound created by “dooth,” “wood,” and “smoot” is pervasive and resonates with the sounds of pain and desperation. The Wife is the clear victim. Here the allusion to the lion can be perceived as a sort of dichotomy. On the one hand, the feline has strong associations with female passivity and elegance: the lion is a creature of beauty. But on the other hand it is a symbol of bestial aggression and patriarchy, as "king of beasts". Chaucer uses the lion to accentuate Jankin's contradictory nature. While on the surface level he is an idealistic young scholar, behind closed doors he is guilty of domestic abuse. This male aggression of the young man.

Topic > The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale: How Male Characters Should Appear of Canterbury'. At 856 lines his prologue, or "preambulacioun" as the Summoner calls it, is the longest of all the pilgrims and corresponds to the General Prologue except for a few verses Chaucer is evidently infatuated with Alisoun, as he satirically plays with issues of both gender and class through the Wife's robust rhetoric. Both scholars and students have continued this obsession with her, and consequently the greater widow of Chaucer has been subject to centuries of scrutiny, she is in great minority among the pilgrims going to Canterbury, apart from the Prioress in vogue, she is the only woman, although she does not appear in any way; discouraged by the apparent numerical inequality. It almost seems a crime to examine masculinity in her prologue and narrative, but, as I hope to demonstrate, there is much to learn about both the Wife and Chaucer from this male presence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay If we consider that Chaucer chose his pilgrims with careful precision to present a cross-section of late medieval society, the small number of female travelers can be seen as a clear reminder of the patriarchal culture in which the Wife existed. However, despite Alisoun's vigorous attack on the “old and angry nigardes,” Alisoun is the first to recognize the political ascendancy of men. His prologue is peppered with allusions to the great biblical patriarchs such as Abraham and Jacob: Behold, behold the wise king, daun Solomon; I believe he had wives more than early. (35-36)Here the Wife makes no attempt to deny Solomon's sovereignty, rather she praises him as a 'wise king'; his marital quarrels are of a social nature and it is for this purpose that he invokes his name. Importantly, Alisoun refers to the "ancient" patriarchs: not only is she willing to recognize the male monopoly on politics, but also the deeply entrenched nature of their hegemony, a recognition reinforced by setting her story in the old days of the king. Arthour?. Chaucer created a woman who, despite her fierce social ambitions, remains acutely aware of the civil order of her time. Masculinity is also clearly manifested in the scholasticism to which the Wife continually refers: St. Paul, St. Jerome and Theophrastus. Once again these are historical figures, and although she aims to neuter their learned authority with her own experience, the very fact that they are mentioned is an affirmation of their scholarly dominance. Ironically, the bombastic theology of such figures is applauded as much as it is attacked: Ovid's Midas is cited for his own purposes in the tale, while Ptolemy is extolled in the prologue: Of alle men yblessed moot he be, The Wise Astrologien , Daun Ptholome ... (323-324) His reference to the 'wise astrologer' echoes his description of Solomon as the 'wise king'; clearly in both cases she holds their intellect in the highest regard. Perhaps most striking in the Wife's tone is the humility that comes from her almost religious adoration of the man, and as these lines illustrate, there remains a certain degree of submission on Alisoun's part. Behind his verbal abuse lies a submissive quality on the part of the Wife, although this is not a negative characteristic. Only that which is full of contradictions is alive, said Bertolt Brecht, and it is her dichotomous personality that gives her so much enthusiasm and truly characterizes Chaucer's genius. However, the male presence in theprologue and in the story is not limited only to historical figures. , whose contribution is more thematic than personal. The main male components are Alisoun's five husbands, creations that we assume are Chaucer's own. The first three of these are not distinguished as individuals, but the Wife informs us they were rich and old: in layman's terms, mid-level sugar daddies. There seems to be nothing remotely patriarchal about this pathetic triumvirate, and Chaucer (through the Wife) presents them as utterly malleable: they are figures of fun, archetypes of what Alisoun considers a "good" husband: hond, and sith had made me yeven al hir london. (211-212) The first line is a Middle English idiom for control, a modern equivalent of which might be "under my thumb." However, it is impossible to ignore the sexual suggestion of this verse, which graphically illustrates the methods the Wife uses to achieve "maistrie." Meanwhile the pun “hoolly” can be interpreted as a joke about the sanctity of marriage, something Alisoun has little regard for. Here, as the reference to "lond" indicates, men are presented as the landowners: the powerful aristocrats whose ancestry is inextricably linked to their estates. Traditionally, a wife would simply become another of their possessions, but clearly the Wife has used sexual persuasion to manipulate and subvert such conventions, as she receives their property. In this case, Chaucer's presentation is socially pointed and amusingly ironic: men are powerful in theory, puny in practice. Husband number four, again unnamed, but at least described in dislocation, is not so flexible. The Wife describes him as a "revealer" who kept a mistress, a person who was supposedly immune to Alisoun's unique methods of manipulation. Yet this is not the case, and the presentation of masculinity as an easily governable force continues, as with superb ingenuity the Wife feigns a relationship: That in his owene grece I did friePer angre, and per verray jalousie. (487-488) Clearly he is a temperamental character, whose personality thus far appears in the same mold as that of the Summoner. Yet for all his wild activities, he still succumbs to the sexual deceptions of the Wife, and Alisoun herself confesses the extent to which she has bent his nature: how much I twist him. The Wife enjoys the victory with an almost perverse enjoyment. In fact there is even the hypothesis that it was she who brought him to his deathbed. Once again Alisoun denounces empowered masculinity as weak and feeble, and Chaucer's presentation of men maintains its coherence: despite political or physical supremacy, men retain an Achilles' heel in the form of the sexual act. However, the strength of the previous lines, with "angre" and "verray jalouse" highlights another aspect of masculinity: that of aggression. This manifests itself both verbally and physically; the first of which can be clearly seen in the confrontation between the Summoner and the Friar at the end of the prologue. While the friar nonchalantly ridicules his wife's chatter, the summoner explodes indignantly: "Lo", quod the Somonour, "Goddes armes two!". What follows is a humorous argument that amounts to little more than harsh words, but reaches its climax when the priest's seething sarcasm is countered by, I bishrewe your face - the epitome of the Summoner's simple optimism. The ease with which Harry Bailey quells the fight leads us to question whether there is a physical intent behind the aggressive language, as once again it is the lack of substance beneath the powerful façade of masculinity that becomes a source of amusement. However, this aggression takes a physical formrepressed in the tale, considerably darker than the amusing male misdeeds of the prologue: Women can now go up and down with complete safety. In every bush or under every tree There is noon another nightmare but him... (878 -880)Here the Wife demonstrates the most vindictive aspect of her nature, as she gets punishment for the Friar's previous interruption. At the same time Chaucer allows himself the opportunity for anticlerical social commentary. A "nightmare" is traditionally a male spirit who, according to popular tradition, would have sexual relations with sleeping maids, and this reference maintains the fairy-tale background of the Wife's tale. However, the hypothesis of nymphomania on the part of the friar is clear. The way in which such implications are obscured by the cotton wool of "elf queens" and "fairies" reflects the way in which immoral vices are practiced in the seclusion of bushes or under trees - evidently this sexual aggression is repressed. As before a clear distinction was drawn between male appearance and male reality, however, rather than power concealing weakness, the friar obscures sexual degradation with religious virtue. This idea of only superficial male authority and integrity seems equally present in the two main males of the piece: Jankin in the prologue and the young knight (or "lush bachelor") of the tale. As perpetrators of outrageously violent acts, both fail to meet the standards expected of their positions. The anonymous protagonist of the Arthurian romance of the Wife is anything but chivalrous: He saw a maiden accompanying him in bifurn, Whose maide anon, maugree hir heed, With true strength, he will raft his maiden. (886-888)The words 'force' and 'rafte' are stressed and stand out clearly in iambic pentameter. Their monosyllabic nature further accentuates the stress on the words, while the harsh dental plosives within 'rafts' heighten the sense of violence. There are no docile fairies here: Alisoun is sincere, and although she chooses not to reflect on the violation, she seems to be at pains to emphasize the aggressiveness of the act through the force of the last line. Furthermore, there are definite implications of struggle in the phrase "maugre hir heed". Such premeditated violence seems incongruous not only with the young man's status, but also with the almost polite nature of the narrative. Such rape is the antithesis of the Knight's Tale and this reminds us that we are hearing not Chaucer's view of masculinity, but that of the Wife - a view that has its foundation in experience. Indeed, this experience may be that of her fifth marriage to Jankin, a man who as a former Oxenford employee combines scholasticism and marital commitment. For such a cultured male you would expect him to be passive - "above" the stereotypical brutal behavior of the Summoner. However, as with friars and knights in training such expectations would be incorrect, and following Alisoun's petty vandalism of Jankin's misogynistic book of wicked wives, he literally beats her deaf: I'm listening. (794-795) The prolonged “o” sound created by “dooth,” “wood,” and “smoot” is pervasive and resonates with the sounds of pain and desperation. The Wife is the clear victim. Here the allusion to the lion can be perceived as a sort of dichotomy. On the one hand, the feline has strong associations with female passivity and elegance: the lion is a creature of beauty. But on the other hand it is a symbol of bestial aggression and patriarchy, as "king of beasts". Chaucer uses the lion to accentuate Jankin's contradictory nature. While on the surface level he is an idealistic young scholar, behind closed doors he is guilty of domestic abuse. This male aggression of the young man.