Chaucer and Rape
Though subject of great debate and pain in modern days, the occurrence of rape in medieval society, though most specifically in many of Geoffrey Chaucer's works such as "The Wife of Bath's Tale," proves to hold very little interest in the minds of both historical inhabitants of the time as with it's readers. Though readers of literary texts during the medieval period consisted mainly of males who would not understand both the psychological along with the physical burden of the act of rape, it is still enticing to view how the concept was perceived by these readers. In presenting evidence for the reasons as well as the possible causes for rape having been taken in such an extremely casual manner, this paper will firstly explain "The Wife of Bath's Tale" along with it's view of women. The intention of this paper is also to shed light on the historically factors as to why Chaucer might have been fixated with the topic of rape, since many of his other tales, such as "The Reeve's Tale" along with "The Miller's Tale," also dealt rape in some form or fashion. In order to accomplish that task, a proper understanding of both the literal as well as the figurative definitions of "rape" should be thoroughly examined.
Women were viewed much like a piece of land purchased for use; occasionally the land would be looked over, sometimes it would be forgotten; but when it was needed, it was used for what it was seen fit for. " (Rose, 37)More answers can be found in Brain S. Why would Chaucer choose to write his tales including this horrid occurrence? Chaucer could have also been explaining his views on the then current laws regarding the many kinds of rape for both married as well as unmarried individuals. The writer interprets May's patroness as "the victim of an aged god's rape along with the prisoner of his [Jaunuary] infernal garden. "The consensus among earlier critics has been that whether "raptus" meant forced intercourse of abduction, the accusation of Chaucer of real violence perpetrated upon a real female is so shrouded in mystery as well as ambiguity that it might just as well be ignored or dismissed. The knight is forced to marry an old hag, a woman who has given him the answer to the question that has saved his life and has forced him to marry one he is not attracted to and does not love. Even the Wife of Bath herself could be said to have controlled the many husbands that she obtained throughout the years and lost to death. Contemporary female readers would view this as completely intolerable as they began to question the many reasons as to why Chaucer depicted a rape in order to solve a seemingly unimportant riddle about what women really want in life. " (Cannon, 266) Chaucer's understanding of the law in this text in not only to the relevance of consent's certainties, but "the crucial nature of its uncertainty, her, in fact, in all the complexity that still troubles the modern law. Later in his analysis, Lee mentions that the tale reflects a medieval view of rape that was seen as a felony as well as punishable by castration and blinding, though "According to the provision of the Second Statute of Westminster (1285), by 'judgement of life and member' [i. Before further analyzing the many definitions of rape, it is probably, though not as important, but interesting to note that Chaucer himself was accused of his "raptus" to a woman named Cecily Chaumpaine. " (Line 886-889) Although one would initially imagine that the main focus of tale would be primarily fixed on the undeserving victim, the tale instead centers on the lusty male who has inflicted pain onto the ill-fated woman. in particular, to threaten her husbands financial interest. The only husband that possessed initial power over her was her last husband, Jankin.
Common topics in this essay:
Bath's Tale,
Statute Westminster,
Bath's Tale',
Cecily Chaumpaine,
Reeve's Tale,
Middle Ages,
Wife Bath,
Tale Murtaugh,
Canterbury Tales,
Cannon Helen,
wife bath's,
bath's tale,
wife bath's tale,
tale _,
reeve's tale,
medieval period,
definitions rape,
reeve's tale _,
_the wife bath's,
rape forced,
situation hand,
wife bath's tale_,
women viewed,
tales including,
_ reeve's tale,
|
Acceptance Essays
