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.
ale" begins with a voluntary as well as extremely physical rape of a young woman by a knight near a river. The text reads, In spite of the fact that Chaucer wrote about many physical rapes in his tales, there are other definitions of rape that prove rape within characters of Chaucer's tales that one would not have realized during initial readings. According to _Images of rape: The "Heroic" Tradition_, the author speaks about the different views of "raptus," the Latin legal term for rape. Forced coitus, abduction, or sexual assaults on a women was viewed as "raptus." Later throughout the years when Old French along with English words combines, "raptus" and "it's derivatives linguistically came to designate a state of emotional exaltation, and became associated in the Middle Ages with the state of sexual pleasure." (Wolfthal, 28) It is also mentioned in various articles that forced coitus was not the only idea of rape during the medieval period. Ravishment, a more of a "seizing" control over another individual, was also viewed as "raptus." This factor can be seen in many of Chaucer's tale including _Troilus and Criseyde_ because a woman, in this case Helen, is happily married to her raptor. "What Chaucer helps us to see is how such definitions ignore precisely those conditions of consent that make an act wrong." According to some critics, Helen was never "raped" in any form of fashion, but according to Cannon, since Helen was the wife of another, she "could not have cared less about the consensual states that intervened between these two 'marriages." (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." (Cannon 268) The unknowing of the situation at hand, such as that of _The Reeve's Tale _ when the miller's wife believes she is getting into bed with her husband, when in fact she is being tricked into having sex with John. This non-consensual contact is viewed also as rape and again, the physical pain and/or suffering is not explained in much detail after the occurrence. It might, to some readers, seem as if rape is being thrown into tales for the humorous factor because the stories, in some fashion, seem more unbelievable than anything does; though some moral aspect can be derived from each. _ The Reeve's Tale _ is, however, merely a diminutive example of Chaucer's attentiveness to the conditions of the modern law. (Cannon, 268) More answers can be found in Brain S. Lee's, in _Exploration and excommunication in 'The Wife of Bath's Tale' _. "If the tale is designed to show that women desire sovereignty, it succeeds rather in demonstrating that women serve for men's delight both by chance and by policy, with only nominal sanctions to protect them from men who demand too sudden gratification." (Lee, 17) Lee explains that the view of women was of rather little importance in regards to both their mind, as well as their body. Men were able, and took advantage of, any situation at hand "both by chance and by policy" at any time at which the desire or wanting of something sexual or non-sexual was wanted. 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. Although this thought resided in the minds of many, questions arose regarding the historical factors as well as measurements taken if an actual rape were to occur during the medieval ages. Later in his analysis, Lee mentions that the tale reflects
Some common words found in the essay are:
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,
Approximate Word count = 2462
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
