The Wife Of Bath Essay
The women of the Middle Ages were meek and mild, not boisterous and headstrong like the Wife of Bath.Compared to other women of her time, she is unique; instead of conforming to traditional stereotypes, she follows what she desires. Her opinion on marriage and the purpose of a husband challenges the Medieval role of a housewife. Though her actions are slightly contradictory, the Wife of Bath is one of literature’s first feminists.
The Wife of Bath is not subservient—she’s the dominant force in her relationships. In each marriage, she is the center which her husband revolves around: They serve her needs, bend at her discretion. She never hesitates to reprimand her husband, should he displease her. ‘Even if the pope had sat beside [him]’ (16-17), she …show more content…
Men were capable of the same evil of which he read about, yet no such book existed. She also struck him across the face, twice. Hitting a man was something a woman didn’t do in the Medieval Ages and to hit him more than once is extremely risky. Women of the 1300’s were expected to be servile, used mainly for procreation and housekeeping, but the Wife of Bath shatters those expectations and creates her own.
Another aspect of her that defies a woman’s typical role and contributes to her feminist ways is the Wife of Bath’s sexuality. She uses ‘her instrument as freely as [her] Maker has sent it (164). Sexual organs, she believes may be used for both pleasure and procreation, so long as God isn’t displeased. The sole purpose of sex was to create more children and the Wife of Bath rebels against this by taking pleasure in the activity She’s also not picky about whom she receives pleasure from—physical appearance mattered not when she ‘followed her appetite’ (623). If her husband asks, she will give it to him ‘both evening and morning’. Promiscuity was frowned on during the Middle Ages, more so for women. It was common for a man to
The Wife of Bath is not subservient—she’s the dominant force in her relationships. In each marriage, she is the center which her husband revolves around: They serve her needs, bend at her discretion. She never hesitates to reprimand her husband, should he displease her. ‘Even if the pope had sat beside [him]’ (16-17), she …show more content…
Men were capable of the same evil of which he read about, yet no such book existed. She also struck him across the face, twice. Hitting a man was something a woman didn’t do in the Medieval Ages and to hit him more than once is extremely risky. Women of the 1300’s were expected to be servile, used mainly for procreation and housekeeping, but the Wife of Bath shatters those expectations and creates her own.
Another aspect of her that defies a woman’s typical role and contributes to her feminist ways is the Wife of Bath’s sexuality. She uses ‘her instrument as freely as [her] Maker has sent it (164). Sexual organs, she believes may be used for both pleasure and procreation, so long as God isn’t displeased. The sole purpose of sex was to create more children and the Wife of Bath rebels against this by taking pleasure in the activity She’s also not picky about whom she receives pleasure from—physical appearance mattered not when she ‘followed her appetite’ (623). If her husband asks, she will give it to him ‘both evening and morning’. Promiscuity was frowned on during the Middle Ages, more so for women. It was common for a man to