Literary Analysis: The Wife of Bath

Thesis Statement

The Canterbury tales by Geoffrey Chaucer has been written in the times of 14th century in England, and paints a reflective picture of the medieval life, its culture, and thought. The society in this era is deeply underpinned by strict traditional Christian norms which govern all facets of human behavior. The Wife of bath as a narrative of a women living in this society, depicts her character as tactfully defying and bending the role of either a nun or an obedient wife as defined by the society for a woman. One might infer that from prologue and the tale that character of wife of bath may have been bigoted sort, who is manipulative of other men to seek for her own dominance pleasures. However, we are bound to realize that character in the end settles back in to the patriarchal system prevalent at the times. This is the depiction of one of the woman in Canterbury tales who has an individualistic side to them.

Supporting Paragraph

There three main women described as individualistic, roles which are not as per perfect models of a woman as a nun or a wife, in the author's work of Canterbury tales: Wife of Bath's Tale, Prioress' Tale, and a Second Nun's Tale. Although it is argued by Martin Priscilla that Wife of Bath and Prioress possess more of an individual character while not being as rogues in their roles, but rather as individuals who represent majority of the women in the medieval era. This is supported by the fact that most of the women were not fulfilling their roles of an ideal woman. In this regard, Prioress is a romantic ideal of a woman, admired by male pilgrim for her beauty and manners. She is fully feminine, and enjoys the ...