Subjects:
to be an early feminist, but is not by her own words. She has her own authoritarian views
on marriage, Scripture, and husband domination. Alison is one of the only characters who
actually reveals herself openly, through her prologue. She has a personality, and that
personality consists of her authority over her husbands, her own ideals on religion, and she
Allison establishes her authority on marriage and husbands through experience.
Because of her aggressive outset to prove authority, some may see her as a wicked
woman, and she is proud of this. “Experience, even if there were no other authority in this
world, would be grounds enough for me to speak of the woe that is marriage”. She has
been married five times, the first at age twelve. Many people have criticized her, using as
proof the fact that Jesus only went to one wedding. But she feels that her five marriages
have only helped to build experience, and thus support her views. Those views being that
women want to have dominance over their husbands. So she us
. . .
to the fact that men hold all the positions of power in society, or that the woman who
gives the Knight in her tale a chance can do so only by pleading with her husband. But she
also proves that she is not just a feminist out to champion female dominance. She may rely on her certain “charms” to establish authority,
but in the end she always relies on good sense and intuition to get what she wants.
But the real message of the story, regardless of her apparent lack of real life cynicism, is
that women, ugly or fair, should be obeyed in all things by their husbands. The reason that Allison’s character seems more real is her
self-cognizance, she seems to look at her life from a distance.
Allison ultimately wants to control her husband, whomever that may be, but also
have her own needs satisfied. es her prologue to mimic
the way in which churchmen assert their authority-by quoting Scripture and works of
authority.
The Wife of Bath’s authoritarian self confidence is a subtle comment on the way
men thought of women. By also including this sub-moral into her story, Allison
clearly shows that she is not completely cynical to the idea of a mutually happy marriage. Therefore she actually
thinks and has a quasi-dynamic personality. She also attacks the church’s view on virginity, saying that even if
virginity is important, someone must be doing something to make more virgins! She
pokes fun at the views of the church and establishes a base to better prove her own. She at first tries to justify her actions by appealing to the higher truths of
the Scripture, but soon abandons this approach. But it accomplishes it in a different sort of way.
Her tale also subsequently proves her theme of dominance of men by women.
Essay's Topics
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