Wife of Bath Context and concepts Flashcards
gentilesse
the concept linking virtue to high birth. It was thought members of the nobility automatically inhereited virtues of chivalry, courtesy, generosity, and morality
- the hag argued these qualities belong to character, not social rank or birth. Whilst dismissing hte medieval view that a persons quality is determined by their birth, she endorses the modern view that people of low birth can be virtous too.
status of women
women thought of of the second sex and the ‘daughters of eve’
- the fundamental platform upon which all manner of prejudices are founded
- all women’s self-worth tied to a man: even widows were often associated with the status of their last husband (ironic since the wife keeps remarrying)
- a woman could take her husband to court for beating excessively, but a man could not do so, as he was considered weak.
- advantages of being a woman though do depend largely on her husbands behaviour.
marriage
maritage debt: sex was considered an obligation in marriage if requested by either the husband or the wife.
- transactional imagery is used by the wife
anti feminism
had its source in biblical writings and was perpetuated by the teaching of the church which stated women were the root of all humanity’s sufferings.
- men were more literate, which provided them with ‘authority’ for these teachings
st jerome
- believed all desires of the body were sinful and sexual desire should not be indulged in at all.
- women were instrumental in teaching men such a sinful act.
theophrastus
author of ‘the golden book of marriage’ in which women are criticsised for needing fine clothes, their unendng talk, the fact they cant be tried before marriage, and their need for praise and attention.
female gossips
there was a focus of distrust and fear of whata women might get up to in spaces men could not penetrate.
Gossip created a male-free zone in which women act freely, so men can reject it.
- gossip originally meant a close and spiritual intimacy, but came to mean casual feminine talking. Meaning was diminished by its association with women.
st pauls letter to the corinthians
- presents the commonly accepted idea that virgins were held in high esteem due to their purity
- suggests that, if someone is to have sex, they must be married first
- ## people must be fully committed to their partner during marriage, and can only reamrry if they die, and own eachothers bodies.
women in fairy tales
- portrayal of women is polarised.
- women are either evil and ugly or beautiful and submissive
- whether they fit into the latter is determined by whether they conform to patriarchal expectations or not
- the depiction of women within these stories is often determined by men
- when women in fiction is often translated into reality, women’s role in society is therefore determined and maintained by male expectations, causing women to lose autonomy.
social context
medieval society
- rigid social structure (clergy, nobility, labourers)
- the black death altered this with a third of Englands population dying after 1 year.
- peasants who survived the plague found themselves in a strong position financially due to the shift in social structure. Those who survived also often inherited the property of those relatives who died.
- taxes were increased and laws were passed in an effort to return to pre-plague levels of peasentary, but violence erupted in 1381 known as the peaseant revolt and this climaxed with the execution of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Literary context
sermons
- traditionally religous discourse delivered in public by a member of the clergy
- however, the wife is not a preacher or member of the clergy, she is a prosperous widow with an untraditional message
- the wife’s attack on male clerics who usually presented women as sinful and the source of strife along with her defence of women’s powers within marriage is fascinating and funny.
- sermons usually contained: an abstract theme, a biblical story or quotation, classical stories
literary context
exegesis
interpreting or commenting on a text, particuarly the bible and similiar authorities
- Chaucer’s audcience would have known the Bible stories extremely well.
social context
the cult of mary
- mary was worshipped by men as a virgin figure and the embodiment of motherly love
- the cult of mary and courtly love tradition, by which a noble (pure) woman was loved and adored from afar, beca,e intertwined
- therefore there were 2 very distinct views of women, those who were pure (virgins) and the decsent of eve (sluts??)
social context
areas of power and influence for women?
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- in the nunnery
- the prioress was responsible for looking after the buisiness of the estates, and the internal discipline of the house, she entertained guests, and she answered to her bishop for the spirutal and earthly welfare of her nuns.
- weaving
- much smaller group of women in lower social status were weavers, the industry of which had grown hugely in England by the fourteenth century
- in the home (??)
- often in the writings/carvings/illustrations of the peirod, the married woman, not the man, is depicted as a scold and a tyrant, the boss.`
Galen teachings
- 3rd century writer
- Galen holds women’s wombs are ‘cold and need constant warming by “hot” male sperm’
- furthermore, if women do not regulate their ‘seed’ (galen’s words) might coagulate and suffocate their wombs. It is therefore understood that women have a physical need to have sex regularly
- A woman must orgasm to concieve, so if she does concieve it must mean she enjoyed the experience, so legally no rape has taken place.
