Womens Themes in The Wife of Bath by Geoffery Chaucer Essay

Geoffery Chaucer wrote his legendary Canterbury Tales in Medieval times when women were considered as servants to their husbands and powerless. This was a time where church and state were one entity and in the church’s eyes women were supposed to be gentile and and virtuous. Sexuality and education of women was condemned by the church and state. The clothing during that time also represented the ideals of that time. Their skirts were long and ankles were never to be shown naked in public. Young girls were taught that a fulfilled life included marrying a rich and noble man, staying at home taking care of the kids and being in tune with a lifestyle that the church praised. Chaucer wrote his female characters to represent the women he had†¦show more content†¦Virginius intercedes hand Claudius is exiled. In this tale the martym of highly dramatized by the judge cutting off his daughter’s head. He would rather shee his daughter dead then handed over to a treacherou s man. Honor is something holy and should be kept at all cost. Once it is saved all those who tried to take a family’s honor are dealt with harshly. In the second tale The Fanklin’s tale, a knight Averages wants to make his life complete by marring a pious wife. He choses Dorigen, a patient woman, to make his wife. Soon after they are married the knight has to travel to make a living. While he is gone Dorigen becomes extremely sad. Her neighbor tries to convince Dorigen to go to parties but she refuses. One day she accepts an invatation to go to a picnic. There she meets a wealthy man, Arelius, who tells her that he will do anything to attain her. Jokingly she promises that if he removes all the rocks from the coast, she will marry him. He goes into a deep depression. His bother agrees to pay a magician to remove all the rocks from the coast. Meanehile, Averages returnes home and everything is right again. The rocks are removed from the coast and Arelius tells Dorigen that she must keep her pomise. She tells her husband and wants to kill herself. The knight says that she must keep her promise. She does as her husband says. Arelius releases her from her promise once he sees her sorrow. But he cannot pay the fee to the