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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
 Chaucer's Wife of Bath, Apr 21, 2023
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is a widely discussed collaboration of tales that depict various groups of people in many different assessments. In The Wife of Bath, the portrayal of women is extremely controversial. The question of whether Chaucer was a misogynist or supported women's liberation is a passionately discussed topic. Based upon Chaucer's various portrayals of women, he was not a male chauvinist who desired superiority over women. Chaucer portrayed women through his opinion as an Englishman in Medieval England, where the common view was that women were subordinate to men. This is seen in the Wife of Bath's contradictory personality as well as the characters of her tale.
To understand the importance of feminist criticism, it is important to know what it is and stands for. Feminist literary criticism is the term for analyzing literary works through the examination of female points of view, concerns, and values in comparison with the time period and culture. In Mary Wollenstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights Women, she asserts the observation "Women, I argue from analogy, are degraded by the same propensity to enjoy the present moment; and, at last, despise the freedom which they have not sufficient virtue to struggle to attain." One of the primary purposes of feminist literary criticism is concerned with "uncovering the contingencies of gender" as a cultural, social, and political system and instrument of domination. (Jehlen) Meaning, that their goal is uncover any iniquities placed upon women due to cultural setting, political standpoints, or social foundations.
Although there are immutable biological differences between men and women, these differences create various social differences in different societies. One society may be completely different than another, at least in their treatment of the separation of gender. Also, in a patriarchal society, such as England in Chaucer's time, the separation of gender involves more than just social differences, but also the idea that sexual differences are the same as sexual inequality (. Rigby) It is inequitable to be judgmental of Chaucer and his views of women, as anti-feministic as they are, because Chaucer was from a completely different social construct and historical time period.
Through Chaucer's Wife of Bath, as well as the characters in her tale, he portrays various views of women within Chaucer's time. He represents women as unchaste and unruly in the Wife of Bath, Dame Alice. He also depicts women as helpless and overlooked in the raped maiden of The Wife of Bath's Tale. The queen within the tale is shown as gracious. However, the women questioned by the knight portray a sense of only worldly desire. The old woman shows the wisdom of women, although it seems that she is submitting herself to her husband, she has control over him.
His portrayal of Dame Alice is the antithesis of the stereotype for women in Chaucer's time. She was not pure an innocent, as she confessed that "I won't remain altogether chaste" Alice was not submissive to each of her husbands, she chose to rule over them. She strikes fear into the town and its parish to the point where she gets and does whatever she wants. The fear and respect the town has for her is seen in lines 459-463 of the General Prologue: "In all the parish not a dame dared stir, Towards the altar steps in front of her, And if indeed they did, so wrath was she as to be quite put out of charity" The Wife becomes such a powerful feministic force, at times, by being able to masquerade around town with the qualities and luxuries of being a man and appears to be so happy not following the typical and stereotypical roles set for women at her time and throughout most of history. The Wife of Bath is a zealous woman who freely admits to all the lust, the conniving and the egocentricity that defines her. Dame Alice has radical views about women and their position within a marriage, especially for a time when women were expected to be passive within a marriage. This direct opposition to previously set roles for women is what defines her character.
However, the Wife of Bath, while seemingly an example of feminism in all of her qualities, is actually inconsistent with herself.. She is, instead, a mockery of herself. The Wife of Bath is inconsistent in her belief structure. While, at times, she claims to be able to beguile her husbands into doing whatever she wants, creating a view of herself as strong and independent, she often gave into what her husband would want. She freely admits that men are far more intelligent than women appear to be in lines 440-442 of her Prologue "One of us two must give in, without a doubt; / And since a man is more reasonable/ than woman is, you
must be patient "Nevertheless, since I know your pleasure I'll satisfy your physical pleasure". In this quote the Wife of Bath not only concedes that men are more reasonable than women, but also that a good woman and wife will do and give up whatever is necessary for her husband to be satisfied. If the Wife had really been what she appeared to be externally, she would not have admitted that men, in a general stereotype, could contain more reason and intelligence than women could. This quotation leaves an unanswered contradiction about the Wife of Bath. Chaucer easily contradicts the Wife of Bath by showing and telling more personal sides of the Wife of Bath and thus proves her to be much more of a hypocrite and much less of a archaic feminist then originally thought. The Wife also diminishes herself, and all women, by explaining that all women can be bought, in lines 413-417 of her Prologue. "And Therefore I tell every man this truth,/ Let whoever can, win, for everything is for sale,/ With an empty hand men cannot lure hawks,/ For a price I would endure his lust,/ And make myself a pretend appetite" The other travelers within The Canterbury Tales also accept her as a rebellion of women's position. The Pardoner requests that the Wife teach them. This also defies biblical and cultural standings on women's positions, as teachers, that they are not to teach over them, as explained in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 of the Judeo-Christian Bible.
The Wife of Bath also reverses the roles of Husband and Wife in some of her descriptions of her marriage, as in lines 154-159 of the Wife's Prologue:
"A Husband I will have, I will not desist, / Who shall be both my debtor and my slave, / And have his troubles along with it/ Upon his flesh while I am his wife, / I have the authority all my life/ Over his body and not he"
She is dictating that she will have total control over herself, her husband, and their household, contradictorily to cultural and biblical standards, as discussed by C.S. Lewis in his work `Mere Christianity', "The function of the husband is to see that this natural preference if hers is not giving its head. He has the last word to protect the other people from the intense family patriotism of the wife" The Wife sees the relationship between men and women as a battle in which it is crucial to gain the upper hand. She uses tactics, which were seen as the only stereotypical form of defense for women: sexuality, duplicity, and vulnerability. Her armor was indeed necessary. Medieval England presented women as second class citizens, viewed as goods and chattels, with no financial independence. They were often beaten, and it is clearly in the Wife's nature to protect herself. She uses weapons like her sexuality and her youth to make her husbands suffer, so much so that they feel impotent. This weapon was highly effective with first three husbands who she managed to dominate, `But since I had them completely in my hand' and they handed over all of his land and property as she withheld sex in order to get her own way with them.
The Wife also used a weapon of deceit and she claims that women have this weapon from birth. She tells her audience that she would deliberately pick
arguments and accuse her husbands of the very sins she herself is guilty of, because she admits that attack is the best form of defense. The Wife claims that all the other wives are better treated than herself, and commonly uses her weapon of nagging. She accuses her husbands of being cheap, complaining about extravagance of the neighboring women. She easily attains power over her first three husbands in this way, as they usually submitted for the sake of peace, as she notes, `They were most happy when I spoke fairly to them,/ For God knows I nagged them spitefully./ The Wife ruled over her husbands.
The maid in The Wife of Bath was a small character role, and yet her fleeting moment in the story is extremely important. The characteristics of this woman seem to have the ability to go to all women. She is vulnerable and innocent, as she is still a maiden. The only thing known about this woman is that she was overpowered by the knight and severely taken advantage of. "From which maid at once, in spite of her protests,/ By sheer force he stole her maidenhood" This example of male domination within a tale is not atypical. Chaucer shows women's weakness in her.
In the Queen, Chaucer shows the graciousness of women, as fickle as it might appear. Despite the fact that the Queen knows of the wrongdoing of this man, she begs for his life. It is ironic that she, a woman, is fighting for this man's life after what he had done to another woman.
The various women that the knight questioned provide insight as to what Chaucer thought about women. The majority of the answers that the knight acquired were monetary or tangible, such as money, fine clothes, lust, or beauty. Once the idea that women "take we great delight/ in being considered dependable and trustworthy. / and able to hold steadfastly to one purpose, / and not betray things men tell us" However, this idea, which was the only virtuous answer was quickly dismissed because it was allegedly "not worth a rake handle" It was not plausible for a woman to be considered virtuous, which is ironic, since being virtuous was the feminine stereotype.
The old woman, which gave the knight the correct answer, shows the wisdom of women. She required the knight to pledge his honor to her before she revealed the answer. This was wise of her; it caused the knight to base his later decisions on everything he stood for. She was foul and haggard in appearance. The knight was excruciatingly upset at the fact that he needed to marry her due to her appearance, age, and class.
Women were portrayed in various different ways, through the Wife of Bath as well as the characters of her tale. Chaucer did not hold any animosity against women or strongly desire to subdue them, he merely believed what he knew, which was female subordination within his society.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Chaucer? Isn't he that guy from A Knight's Tale with Heath?, Mar 10, 2023
"Our Host called out `Be quiet, that's enough!
Shut up, and let the woman tell her tale.
You must be drunk, you've taken too much ale.
Now, Ma'am, you go ahead and no demur.'
`All right,' said she, `it's just as you prefer,
If I have licence from this worthy friar.'
`Nothing,' said he, `that I should more desire.'"
This is the translation that I cut my teeth on (along with probably millions of others in classrooms around the world), and so I have a predisposition to praise Coghill's work.
There's something about this translation that smacks of authenticity; the simple rhyme scheme and antiquated, if easily comprehensible, English really make us feel that we're reading the words as Chaucer wrote them. There's nothing in the way of analysis or notes; after a brief introduction that lays out who Chaucer was and where the tales come from, he lets it rip.
The tales themselves are deserving of their fame because of the way that they manage to be maintain a literary value and yet still appeal to the masses. While each tale stands alone (and some of them stand alone very well indeed), the device of a group of disparate strangers stuck together that comprises the frame is exceptionally captivating. There's something very neat and pat about the concept: two tales each on the way, and two tales each on the way back.
Even though this was obviously never accomplished, we still get fun interaction between the principles, and get a feel for what the entire project would have looked like (like a thicker book, I suppose, but I digress).
That Chaucer used this unifying element to bring together stories from other sources is to his credit, because the variety of sources adds to the concept, by creating starkly different tales that ably bear out the voices of their various tellers.
If you have any sort of interest at all in the classics, or have enjoyed the stories to be found in traditional folklore and the greek myths, I urge you to give this edition a shot when trying Chaucer.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 One of the greatest epics in Middle English, Mar 8, 2023
Arguably one of Chaucer's best works, the un-finished Canterbury Tales has something for all. Love, revenge, raunchy comedy and death are just some descriptions to the stories present in this volume. READER BE WARNED!!! This version is in Middle English so if you don't know what that is be sure to look at a few exerpts because it is very hard to read. However, part of Chaucer's lore was the way he set his poetry up.
2 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
 Aaarrrggghhh, Jan 13, 2023
Why did I think this rendition of The Cantebury Tales was translated into modern English? It is the second of three items purchased from Amazon, and a second disappointment. Perhaps I should not shop online. Regardless, it is a classic and, I suspect, not read by nearly as many who would enjoy it.
2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
easy to fallow!, Dec 7, 2022
I remember reading this book my soph. yer in high school and sruggling a lot with the translation. But with this addition it is so much easier to fallow. His stories represent one of the motliest crews in English literature: the Wife of Bath who has put away five husbands and is looking for a sixth; the pardoner, the reeve, the clerk, and the knight. THe Millers tale is absolutely histerical and will crack you up. Hope you enkoy reading this book as much as i did.
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Based on 65 reviews.