Women Of Canterbury Tales Essay, Research Paper

Chaucer’s motley crew of pilgrims offered a vast deal of insight into life during the 14th century. Many aspects of society were revealed throughout the tales of the many characters. One such aspect prevalent in many of the tales was the role that women played in society during this time. The tales give the clearest images of women are the Knight’s, the Miller’s. the Nun’s Priest, and the Wife of Bath’s Tale.

In the Knight’s Tale, women are portrayed through Emily. Upon first sight of Emily through his prison window, Palamon, the imprisoned knight falls madly in love with her. He exclaims:

“I have been hurt this moment through the eye,

Into my heart. It will be the death of me.

The fairness of the lady that I see

Roaming the garden yonder to and fro

Is all the cause and I cried out my woe.

Woman or Goddess, which? I cannot say.

I guess she may be Venus – well she may!”

(p. 49, l. 2-8).

Arcite, Palamon’s cousin and best friend, also falls deeply in love with Emily as he gazes upon her:

“The freshness of her beauty strikes me dead,

Hers that I see, roaming in yonder place!

Unless I gain the mercy of her grace,

Unless I at least see her day by day,

I am but dead, there is no more to say.”

(p. 49, l. 24-28).

The knights believe that one man may love and worship Emily from afar and each vehemently contends that he should be this man. The knights’ emotions for a woman of whom they know absolutely nothing, save that she is beautiful, reduces her to an object to be won and an occasion for adventure and courtship.

Years later, after Palamon and Arcite are no longer in prison, they meet and agree to fight to the death for the right to love Emily. She still does not know that these men exist, let alone that they both love her and are willing to die for that love. King Theseus happens upon their brawl, proposes a controlled fight, and offers Emily as a reward to the victor. Again, Emily is nothing more than an object. The king gives no thought as to whether Emily desires to marry either knight, and seals her fate for her. This sheds light onto the esteem in which women were held during Chaucer’s time. It is apparent that women were offered little respect as human beings, as decisions as weighty as who they will marry were chosen by other men. The question of whether Emily loved either knight is irrelevant to the king. She serves only as a fitting prize to be given to the most valiant knight.

Eventually, Palamon wins Emily’s hand in marriage and was reported to have lived his life

“?in joy, amid a wealth

Of bliss and splendor, happiness and health.

He’s tenderly beloved of Emily,

And serves her with a gentle constancy,

And never a jealous word between them spoken

Or other sorrow in a love unbroken.”

(p. 102, l. 15-20).

Emily was obligated to marry Palamon by the pact her brother-in-law made. This shows in what low esteem women were held. True, Palamon is described as desperately loving Emily, it is impossible to decipher whether he is truly in love with her or with the idea of her. He knows only that she is beautiful, and until they are wed, that love is never reciprocated. This shows that the woman’s own desires were inconsequential to the men with whom they interacted. They were necessary figures in a man’s life, but only as an object to idealize and worship, not as an individual with thoughts, beliefs, and emotions.

The Miller’s tale directly follows the Knight’s eloquent ramblings, and offers a stark juxtaposition between the first role depicted of women. The picture painted is not a pretty one; Alison, this story’s main female character is portrayed as unfaithful, lustful, scheming, and crass. The miller begins his tale by claiming that “?a man’s no cuckold if he has no wife”, indicating that all women will be unfaithful to their husbands at some point in the marriage. This statement is a generalization of the behavior of all women by a succinct insult that reduces them to purely sexual creatures.

Alison, the carpenter’s young wife in the tale is described as “?a daisy, O a lollypop/For any nobleman to take to bed”. No information is divulged about Alison’s personality; she, like Emily, is no more than an object. Unlike Emily, however, Alison is perceived by the men who vie for her as a sexual object, not as an idealized creature of beauty alone.

Alison, true to the Miller’s warning, makes a cuckold out of the carpenter. She entangles herself in an affair with Nicolas, a young scholar, and their relationship is purely a physical one. The town’s parish clerk, Absalon, also desires Alison for sexual gratification: “?if she had been a mouse/And he a cat, she’d have been pounced upon.” (p. 109, l. 12-13).

The tale never divulges insight into Alison’s character. She is a trophy for her husband, who keeps her under careful guard, an object of pleasure for Nicolas, and an object of desire for Absalon. At the story’s end, the three men involved in her life are harmed in some way; Nicolas is physically maimed, while Absalon and the carpenter are publicly humiliated. This hints to the idea that women can only cause trouble in the lives of men.

The portrayal of women in 14th century literature is not limited to human characters alone. In the Nun’s Priest Tale, barnyard animals provide a parallel to human life. The Nun’s Priest tells of Chanticleer, a rooster, and his favorite wife, Pertelote.

Consistent with the women in the previous tales, Pertelote is beautiful. She perches nearest to him while they sleep and gives him companionship. When Chanticleer wakes from a nightmare about a fox attack and shares his fears, Pertelote reproaches him:

“For shame?you timorous poltroon!

Alas, what cowardice! By God above,

You’ve forfeited my heart and lost my love.

I cannot love a coward, come what may.

For certainly, whatever we may say,

All women long – and O that it might be! -

For husbands tough, dependable and free?”

( p. 234-235 l. 38-6).

Here, Pertelote explains to Chanticleer what all women desire in their mates. This generalization indirectly portrays women as weak creatures, in need of protection. Her words also shame Chanticleer, causing women to be portrayed as vindictive and thoughtless.

It happens that Chanticleer’s dream was a true premonition and that he is indeed carried off by a fox. The cunning rooster’s wit permits him to escape, and an underlying message about women is conveyed. Pertelote expressed her anger and disappointment in her mate at his weakness in believing dreams. However, Chanticleer was correct to believe his dream and guard himself more closely. By following the advice of a female, he endangered his life.

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale not only gave further validity to the theory that 14th century women were possessions fair to look upon, but introduced the idea that their thoughts should not be heeded.

The final and most profound statement on womankind was given in the Wife of Bath’s Tale. She is the first woman to have a true personality and comprehendible thought process. Despite these novelties, the Wife of Bath is still defined only by the husbands she has had. The prologue to her tale offers more commentary about the state of womankind than does her tale. The Wife of Bath succeeds portraying women as manipulative and dependent on men.

The Wife of Bath has buried five husbands and seems to be actively pursuing the sixth. She explains to the group of travelers through her tale and prologue that women desire sovereignty over their husbands. She describes in detail the manner in which she has rules over all of her husbands:

“I’d tackle one for wenching, out of hand,

Although so ill the man could hardly stand,

Yet he was flattered in his heart because

He thought it showed how fond of him I was.

I swore that all my walking out at night

Was just to keep his wenching well in sight.

That was a dodge that made me shake with mirth;

But all such wit is given us at birth.

Lies, tears, and spinning are the things God gives

By nature to a woman, while she lives.”

(p. 287 l. 9-18).

This passage is hardly becoming to womankind. According to the Wife of Bath, a woman’s greatest assets are “lies, tears, and spinning”. These are malicious and treacherous attributes, and quite different from anything previously portrayed by female characters in other tales.

Yet, despite the supposed strength and cunning of womankind, the Wife of Bath makes it apparent that women must have men, a dependency exists. In order to feel empowered, the Wife of Bath must exercise her “talents” on unsuspecting men. If she were a truly strong creature, however, this display of cunning would not be necessary for her to feel like her life had a purpose.

This dependency on the male sex binds the Wife of Bath’s Tale to the portrayal of women found within the other tales. While all the stories were quite different in the manner in which women were portrayed, a rather clear picture can be formulated of the 14th century idea of women – creatures reduced to objects and possessions.