Womans In The Canterbury Tales Essay, Research Paper

Womans In The Canterbury TalesThe Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer serves as a moral manual for the1300 s and old ages after. Through the mistakes of both work forces and adult female, he shows ineach individuals narrative what is right and incorrect and how one should populate. Under thesurface, nevertheless, lies a wearied expression and adult female and how they cause for thedownfall of work forces. The Knight s Tale is one of gallantry and solid moral behavior.However, beneath the surface lies the subject of the evil nature of adult females. Emilyplays the portion of the beautiful adult female who captivates the Black Marias of twounsuspecting work forces. Those two work forces are cousins Arcite and Palamon, both knightswho affaire d’honneur for Emily s manus in matrimony. The two start out as the best of friends andthen roomies in a gaol cell that is to be shared for infinity. But with one expression atEmily, the two start quibbling instinctively and about come to blows oversomething they will ne’er be able to hold, or so it seems. Chaucer s bent for sarcasm revels itself as Arcite is released from his lifesentence but disallowed from of all time coming back to Athens. He would be killedever caught within the metropolis once more by King Theseus. Because Arcite is doomed tonever once more see Emily, his broken bosom causes him sickness as he s weakened bylove. It is merely after he comes up with the program of returning to Athens under anassumed name that he starts to acquire better. Meanwhile, Palamon remains back in imprisonment, rendered helpless due to hislifelong penalty in prison. He knows that he will ne’er be able to speak to Emilyand surely non get married her because of his predicament. All he can make is watch her froma distance and look up to her beauty. Arcite believes that this is a better punishmentthan his, though, as he says: O dere cosin Palamon, quod he, Thyn is the victorie of this aventureFul blisfully in prison maistow dure ; In prison? Certes nay, but in paradys! Wel hath fortuen y-turned thee the Dy, That hast the sighte of hir, and I th adsence. But I, that am exyled and bareyneOf alle grace, and in so greet despeir, That ther Ni erthe, H2O, fyr, ne eir, Ne animal, that of hem maked is, That may me helpe or doon confort in this: Wel oughte I sterve in wanhope and distresse ; Farwel my lyf, my lecherousness, and my gladnesse! ( 58 and 60 ) Emily has caused him such hurt that he cries all the clip and contemplateskilling himself so he won t have to experience this every twenty-four hours pain that appears to hold noend. All of this because of a adult female. Emily is a sweet, guiltless adult female of her times. In a unusual turn for awoman of The Canterbury Tales, she is absolutely happy entirely and doesn T everwant to be married. Yet, Palamon and Arcite affaire d’honneur twice for Emily s love andArcite ends up losing his life all because of her. Palamon, winning her by default, serves Emily dependably for several old ages before she agrees to get married him, still notloving him, though. No 1 wins in The Knight s Tale, but it is the two menwho fight over the adult female who lose the most. The Nun s Priest s Tale is possibly the best representation of work forces sdownfall due to the influence of adult females. The narrative revolves around a cock, Chauntercleer, the most beautiful prick in all of England with the sweetest voice anany ear has heard. He has seven married womans but his favourite was Pertelote, an elegant

biddy in

her own right. It is this woman, this female, that causes Chauntercleer greattrouble. One night Chauntercleer wakes suddenly from a bad dream. Seeminglyseeking comfort in her, he tells Pertelot about the dream which involves a wild,rampant dog with beady eyes coming after Chauntercleer. But instead ofconsoling her husband , she challenges his manhood and says that no man hersshould be scared of a dream. This causes Chauntercleer to go off on a tangentabout the many, many times in history dreams have predicted the future and hownon-believers suffered the consciences of not taking the proper precautions. Afterhe done, however, he says that Pertelot is probably right and goes off about his daynot giving it another thought. This causes the narrator to take an aside from thestory to tell us his own opinion on women but says that it is the belief of many menand not his own in an attempt to perhaps cover himself. In this he says: Wommennes counseils been ful ofte colde;Wommannes counseil broughte us first to wo,And made Adam fro paradys to go,Theras he was ful mery, and wel at ese. But for I noot to whom it mighte displeseIf I counseil of wommen wolde blame,Passe over, for I seyde it in my game. Rede auctours, wher they trete of swich matere,And what they seyn of wommen ye may here. Thise been the cokkes wordes, and nat myne;I can noon harm of no womman divyne. (404)Chauntecleer later is indeed attacked by a wolf and carried away to thewoods to his certain doom before slipping away, proving the point that women arethe downfall of men. If he had listened to himself and his dreams instead ofPertelote, Chauntecleer would have been more cautious of not of had thenear-death encounter he did. Finally, the prologue to the Wife Of Bath s Tale shows the reader anothertype of woman of the time, this time in the effect of the story teller. The Wife OfBath is a tough woman with a mind of her own and she s not afraid to speak it.She intimidates men and woman alike due to the strength she possesses. Butinstead of showing this as a good characteristic, Chaucer makes her toothless andugly. She has also had five different husbands and countless affairs, thus breakinginnocent men s hearts. In one part of the prologue, the Wife Of Bath speaks of marriage andwomen from a man s point of view: Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle,To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle. Thou lyknest is also to wilde fyr:The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyrTo consume every thing that brent wol be. Thous seyst right as wormes shende a tree,Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housebonde;This knowe they that been to wyves bonde. (198)The Wife Of Bath brings up many a valid point throughout the prologue butChaucer voids her opinion because of her social class and looks, when in truth sheis very wise. It is as if her intelligence is overshadowed by the fact that has hadfive husbands and considered something of a whore. It is not only in three narration s that women are thought of as having anevil-like quality, that they always tempt and take from men, but in almost every oneof the stories. They are depicted of untrustworthy, selfish and very vainthroughout the collection of tales. Chaucer obviously has very opinionated viewsof the marriage and the opposite sex and expresses it very strongly in TheCanterbury Tales.