Riske vs Reserved
Women in the 20th century would most likely stand out if she were to be transported back into the time of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Women during the 14th century were to be "seen and not heard". Their rights in society as well as their role was subordinate to medieval man's. In specifically two tales of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer expresses his opinionated views of the manners and behaviors of women during the 1300's. In the Wife of Bath's Tale, Chaucer portrays an extravagant and lusty woman, where as the Prioress is well mannered with a lady like demeanor. Chaucer's descriptions of the two characters clearly depict the Prioress and a better woman than the Wife of Bath according to 14th Century standards pertaining to appearance and general manners, education, and their deportment towards men. The manners and appearances Chaucer gives to each of the characters to bring them alive vary drastically. Women at this time did not posses the integrity, potency, and self-confidence to live, travel, and think independently. In the prologue Chaucer says that the Wife of Bath had "thrice been to Jerusalem / . . . to Rome and also to Boulogne / St James of Compstella and Cologne" (15) which shows the reader t
If these two women were to enter a bout of scholarly or book smart education, the Prioress would without a doubt outshine the Wife of Bath. However, if the two were evaluated along the lines of worldly or street smarts so to speak, the well-traveled Wife would come out on type. The Prioress encompasses the ability to speak the noble language of French, which in medieval society, places her in a superior class than the Wife of Bath, while the Wife of Bath's nature of education acquires no social status. If anything, her conflicting, liberal and feministic ideals drive society away. But, even though the Prioress attended the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe, "French in the Paris style she did not know" (6). This small but significant detail shows that the Prioress, although well studied, is not with it on the actual happenings of the world. In spite of this nonetheless, being conversant with worldly issues do not gain you elevated social status. While The Wife of Bath did not gain popularity with her wisdom of scholarly issues, she does seem to exhume a good deal of popularity from the male society because of her attitude towards men. The Medieval Society, in which both the Prioress and the Wife of Bath dwell, favors the characteristics of the decorous Prioress as opposed to the offensive behaviors of the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath, even in today's society, would be viewed as somewhat debauched. Therefore, one can only imagine how she is viewed in a time where the Catholic Church had an upper hand in influence of civilization. Chaucer's descriptions pertai
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1057
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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