The Canterbury Tales: The Wif
The only two women described in great detail in The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, are the Prioress and the Wife of Bath. These two women appear similar in the General Prologue of the poem but, as we see through their tales, they are quite unique women and most importantly very different from one another. The initial similarity between these two women lies in their appearance but as the poem continues on we see that their life experience and their manner and personality vary greatly from one another. In the general prologue Chaucer describes both the Prioress and the Wife of Bath in detail. Based on his physical description of these two women alone the reader would be lead to believe they are similar in their stature. The Prioress is described to be nicely dressed, "Her clock, I noticed had a graceful charm"(23). Chaucer also states that "she wore a coral trinket on her arm,/ A set of beads, the gaudies tricked in green"(23). These descriptions of the Prioress tell us that she has great pride in her appearance. Likewise, the Wife of Bath is described in the same manner. Chaucer states that "Her kerchiefs were of finely woven ground"(31) and "Her hose were of the finest scarlet
The Wife of Bath on the other side is frank. The Wife of Bath was experienced at the art of love and was a fine businesswoman. Here Chaucer is telling the reader that each woman is over weight. This quote shows the Prioress' extreme politeness and refined manners, "At meat her manners were well taught withal;/ No morsel from her lips did she let fall, nor dipped her fingers in the sauce to deep, / but she could carry a morsel up and keep/ the smallest drop from falling on her breast"(22-23). Chaucer's description of her demonstrates that she would never behave anything like the Wife of Bath would. The Wife of Bath is worldlier and has a great amount of experience with men and in business, whereas, the Prioress has lived a life that is primarily confined to the church. The Prioress is nothing like the Wife of Bath in that respect, she is described as "all sentiment and tender heart"(23). These two women have very different life experiences, the Prioress is sheltered from most common life experiences like marriage and children whereas the Wife of Bath has had an abundance of life experiences with a wide rang of different husbands, experience in business and has had an opportunity to travel. She also appears to be kind and gentle and then goes on to tell a tale of Jews murdering a young boy. She reports that "In books: "A man must yield his wife her debt"?/ what means of paying her can he invent/ unless he use his silly instrument?"(288). We see how deeply she believes in the word of God when she says before her tale "o lord, our lord marvelous thy name,/ spread through the reaches of the earth"(186). In contrast to the similarity of their outer appearance, these two women are very different in their life experiences, and their manner and personality. These quotes show that she places an utmost importance on power and will be manipulative to get it.
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