"Les contes de Canterbury", Geoffrey Chaucer (2000) - "Le conte de la femme de Bath ", un conte protoféministe ?

Résumé du document

"The Wife of Bath" in "The Canterbury Tales", written by Geoffrey Chaucer is a fascinating character. Chaucer the Pilgrim admired her distinguishing characteristics and life experiences. She wanted to fashion her own idea about life. Her sexuality and arrogance make her stand out because those actions and attitudes were not common at the time the poem was written, during the fourteen century.

The Wife of Bath is an intrepid and courageous character even today, but to Chaucer's audience in the fourteenth century, she would stand out even more for defying the typical and standard roles of women at that time. During this time, a fourteenth century father or husband had the most power in the society. In fact, woman would be completely dependent on their father or husband. "The Wife of Bath" would be considered completely inferior in the public eye, making her completely dependent on a man for support (Perry, Peden and Von Laue 183). However, Chaucer's test different views like the inferior status of woman through "The Canterbury Tales".

Extraits

[...] “What do women want? Go ask Chaucer.”Philadelphia Inquirer, The 03/31/2009 - Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Canterbury Tales." Norton Anthology of World Literature : 100-1500. Ed. Sarah Lawall. 2nd ed. Vol. B. Boston: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc - Perry, Marvin, Joseph R. [...]

[...] Finally, she would use sex to manipulate them because she had a physical and mental approach to manipulate man. The point of her description on how to control man was to show the contrast of two of her personality: “Experience vs. Authority” (web.archive.org). Every time she had manipulate a man, it was for her own privilege and achievement. Although, it seems like she was only marrying for selfish reasons, she did marry twice for love “Three of my husband were good and two (courses.fas.harvard.edu). [...]

[...] "Les contes de Canterbury", Geoffrey Chaucer (2000) - "Le conte de la femme de Bath un conte protoféministe ? The Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer is a fascinating character. Chaucer the Pilgrim admired her distinguishing characteristics and life experiences. She wanted to fashion her own idea about life. Her sexuality and arrogance make her stand out because those actions and attitudes were not common at the time the poem was written, during the fourteen century. [...]

[...] Peden, and Theodore Von Laue. "The Status of Women in Medieval Society." Sources of Western Tradition: From Ancient Times to the Enlightenment. 7th ed. Vol Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co - Renn III, George A. “Chaucer's Prologue” Explicator, Spring88, Vol Issue p4, 4p - Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales”. Oxford University Press, USA (May 15, 2008). [...]

[...] She was proto-feminist in so many ways and even more so in the fourteenth century than today. During her journey, she seemed to be a powerful woman that could obtain everything she wanted. She though that woman should be at the top of the hierarchy and saw man as a simple source of revenue. She had more power than her husbands, and lived from her own experience. She wanted sovereignty and freedomfor woman. She broke all social customs for woman of the fourteenth century and standout as a proto-feminist woman. Bibliography - Patrick Stearns, David. [...]