Themes and sections Flashcards
Give a section from WOB’s prologue on authority, sexuality, and femininity.
26-43
“Men may devyne, and glosen up and doun,// But well I woot withoute lye,//God bad us for to wexe and multiplye:”- Male command comes second to Bible scritpture. Here WOB deviates from typical experiential female authority (as exposed to Chaucer through writers like Margery Kemp) but she appears to distance herself from these sources so that, while she condemns masculine power, she uses features of it to elevate her above other women (“God bad us for”- reflecting the typical teaching position of men in the Bible and the clerics she condemns in contemporary society). In this way, WOB is unsuccessful as an protofeminist and is mocked by Chaucer, the male mediator of her work. (Rhyminb couplet links own speech to Bible scripture, compounded by enjambment, modal verb “may” shows dismissal of the male voice- condemnation, but still neglects to uplift female voices, meaning WOB’s methods serve only to isolate her).
“…the wyse king, daun Salomon.// I trow that he hadde wyves mo than oon.”- Ironic in several ways, showing WOB to be a fiure of fun, not a protofeminist figure. “wyse king”- ironic, as Salomon was condemned in the Bible as a sinner. Specification using the feminine noun “wyves” (rather than a term more applicable to Medieval women such as “got married”) furthers this irony, as, while bigamy in Britain was illegal, men having multiple wives was more tolerated in Biblical communities than women having multiple husbands. Furthermore, Kings 11 describes how Salomon’s wives “led him astray”, showing not only the immorality of bigamy, but also how women were percieved as immoral temptresses, undermining WOB’s authority rather than supporting it as she hopes. Ultimately, Chaucer continues to mock WOB using Biblical context and consideration of masculine authority.
“… many a myrie fit// With ech of them, so well was him on lyve.”- use of the adjective “well” completely neglects the Biblical sources she sites previously, suggesting sensory pleasures validate life and dismissing spirtual life entirely. “myrie fit”- masculine term of sexuality, showing again how the rules and authority she applies are (at best) borrowed from men or (at worst) contradicted by her position as a woman, leading to her mockery and immorality deriving from stupidity.
Give a section from WOB’s prologue on authority, virginity, and marriage.
49- 65
“For thanne th’Apostle seith that I am free// To wedde, a Goddes half, where it liketh me.”- rhyming couplet pairs “free” and “me” reinforcing the idea of women’s freedom (or WOB’s freedom alone). “th’Apostle” references the Apostle Paul in Corinthians who states of widows and the unmarried “But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion”. While this is a permission of marriage, it is a reluctant one. Furthermore, citation of St. Paul is ironic as he is notoriously antifeminist in his works so, while he may permit WOB to marry, he would not accept her authority, demonstrating the inaccessibility of masculione forms of authority (such as Bible citation) WOB uses, deviating from typical experiential authority.
“I woot well Abraham was a hooly man,// And Jacob, eke, as ferforth as ev’r I kan;”- WOB uses scriptural authority to support her multiple marriages, but is unable to find Biblical support of a wife who had multiple husbands, citing only men. Abraham and Jacob were noble men of the OT and had successive, not simultaneous marriages. The lexical field of masculinity in these lines and the lines which follow (repetition of “man”, “he”, “wyves”) shows the irony of WOB’s words and confirms Chaucer as an antifeminist mocking her stupidity.
“He seyde that precept thereof hadde he noon.// Men may conseille a woman to be oon,// But conseille is no commandment.”- “He” here refers to St. Paul, who, while not explicitly condemning sexuality, advises those who are able to be virgins as he was (Corinthians 7). Furhtermore, citation of St Paul restricts a protofeminist message, as he was very explicit in his misogyny, requesting women remain silent in church. This detracts from WOB as a subversively powerful figure. “May” again invalidates male authority, repetition of “conseille” also invalidates male authority, suggesting their power is no more than advice, and should be taken as such. Furthermore, the noun “commandment” draws upon Biblical use, demonstrating how, while patriarchy offers men power in the Medieval period, it does not given them God-like status on earth. This may position Chaucer as a protofeminist, giving a critical analysis of patriarchy and its derivation from religion. However, the contrast between men and women WOB syntactically presents emerging protofeminist views as creating disharmony between sexes, suggesting Chaucer takes an antifeminist stance, as he does in WOB’s citation of male-authored scipture.
