Women Empowerment and Dominance in
The Canterbury Tales is a 14th century literary work of GeoffreyChaucer, an English poet and once-courtier and civil servant for theEnglish royalty. His work is a collection of tales narrated by differentcharacters in the novel, comprised of pilgrims assembling outside theTabard Inn as they journey towards Canterbury. These tales were told as aform of entertainment while they spend their time resting after a longjourney. However, these 'tales of entertainment' is actually adescription, a portrait of the social condition of English society duringChaucer's period, similar to Giovanni Boccaccio's depiction of medieval One particular tale that portrays the social issues prevalent inEnglish society during this period is the tale of the Wife of Bath. Inthis tale, which is made up of the prologue and tale of the character (Wifeof Bath) herself, the theme of women subjugation is discussed andconfronted, where the narrator proposes that wo
Furthermore, the condition thatwas given to the knight, i. The knight, one of King Arthur's subjects, was to be given the sentence ofdeath when the Queen intervened. " This question becomes the primary framework of the tale, wherethe story depicts society's perception of what women truly want. The Queen suggested that the knight wouldbe freed if he can answer the question, "What thing it is that women mostdesire. The tale also centers on the issue of howwomen empowerment and dominance can be achieved, which is through sexualmanipulation and dominance over men. These answers include, "Some said that women all loved bestriches/ Some said, fair fame, and some said, prettiness/ Some, rich array,some said 'twas lust abed/ And often to be widowed and re-wed. " The old woman's replyand the knights journey to discover the answer for the question that willsave his life from death is a symbolic representation of how, in this case,the knight is actually subjected under the control of women through thecharacters of the Queen and the old woman. In thistale, Chaucer confronts the truth about women, how they have been depictedas shallow individuals, illustrated through the replies that the knightreceived from women he inquired with to answer the question he seeks toanswer. Just as the Wife of Bath argues for womenempowerment through sexual manipulation, the tale she told defeats thispurpose: the ending of the tale illustrates, once again, the truth thatwomen, in order to dominate men, must be subjugated first and becomesubjects of men, just as the old woman had to be subjected first by knight(by changing her physical self from an old to a young and beautiful woman)in order for them to live happily. " However,only an old woman, who has wisdom to know what it is that women want,replied: "Women desire to have the sovereignty/ As well upon their husbandas their love/ And to have mastery their man above. The details of the tale of the Wife of Bath concerns the case of theknight who was to be sentenced to death because of he raped a young woman. , to marry the old woman if she gave the rightanswer, establishes the fact that men should always be in a dire situationbefore women can dominate over them and empower themselves.
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