Wife of Bath key extracts Flashcards
theme 1
What is theme 1?
morality.
examines how ethical principles are depicted, including through moral ambiguity and conflicting values
key extract for morality
- Lines 1162-1200
4 key points for key extract on morality
- poverty is honourable
- Jesus chose to live in poverty. Jesus would never choose to sin
- rank does not decide your gentillesse, God does.
- Gentillesse comes from good deeds, not rank
‘Gentilesse cometh fro God alone’
theme 2
what is theme 2?
- satire and social critique
highlights chaucher’s use of humour and irony to critique social norms and behaviours
key extract
120-160 (prologue)
what are the key points for satire and social critque
- women should be able to have as much or as little sex as they wish, it is ridiculous men write otherwise in their antifeminist texts
- sexual organs are multifunctional
- comparison to bread - white bread menas pure, barely bread means impure, then through this a comparison to Jesus who ‘refresshed many a man’
- she is not innocent and brags about howm much sex she has - bold, confident, funny, certainly satirical, but ultimately an object of satire
theme 3
what is theme 3
aging and physicality.
discusses how aging and bodily changes influence characters actions and perceptions
extract for aging and physicality
597-637 (prologue)
key points for aging and physicality
- sexual imagery and implications due to her age, she desires younger men
- ‘gat toothed’ micro analysis implied lust in an old woman, a missing tooth in the middle of her mouth
- she uses astrology to jurstify her lust in her age
- comparison to ‘leonesse’ typically the head of the family/matriarchy
- in her age, she has learnt she doesn’t care about rules society cares about
theme 4
what is theme 4?
gender roles and masculinity
explores societal expectations of men and how masculine roles are challenged or upehld
key extract for theme 4
880-920 (tale)
key points for gender roles and masculinity
- punishment on the knight for raping the maid
- queen (woman) in control of his life
- knight (man) sees finding that women desire most as a punishment, despite the alternative being execution
knight is presented as an object of satire here because chaucer is mocking the death of chivalry and the ridiculousness of gentillesse
theme 5
what is theme 5
deception and manipulation
key extract for deception and manipulation
379-419 (prologue)
key points for deception and manipulation extract
- the wife was able to manipulate her husband into believing her going out at night wasn’t a result of adultery, and she even laughts at how stupid he was to believe this
- women always lie to thier husbands, it’s in their nature: ‘deciete, weeping, spinning God hath yive to wommen kindely’
- she would accuse her husband of committing adultery despite doing this herserlf
- she also comments on his pathetic attempts to please her, in his ‘raunson’
theme 6
what is theme 6
religion and authority
analysis of attitudes towards religous institutions and their interplay with personal beliefs.
theme 6
key extract for religion and authority
60-100
key points for religion and authority extract
-
- St Paul, the apostle in his letter to the corinthians didn’t speak of virginity, and he said God had no advice on it
- through this, she justifies her sexual habits as its okay to be a virgin, but she should be allowed to have sex as much as she wants
- she also makes the argument that without sex, virgins wouldn’t exist; ‘if there were no seed ysowe, Virginitee, thanne whereof sholde it growe?
- she also points out St Paul was simply advising ‘Al nis but conseil to virginitee’
theme 7
what is theme 7
marriage and power dynamics
theme 7
key extract for marriage and power dynamics
780-822
theme 7
key points for marriage and power dynamics
- janekins reading his anti-feminist texts pushes the wife to rip out 3 pages from his book, she hits him, and he falls into the fire. Then he hits her back, and she pretends to be dead
- as a result she feels horrified, and donates all his land and money to her, giving her complete control over both him and his property. ‘To han the governance of hous and lond, and of his tonge and his hond also’
- clearly satirical, and as its the prologue, chaucer intended to present the wife as the object of satire here. Perhaps even both the WOB and Janekin
- Chaucer is mocking the punch and judy power dynamics of medieval marriages and domestic violence that was so commonplace
theme 8
what is theme 8
storytelling and persuasion
theme 8
key extract for storytelling and persuasion
- 828-856
theme 8
key points for storytelling and persuasion
- At the end of the prologue, when the WOB is about to tell her tale, ‘Now will i seye my tale, if ye wol heere’ The friar laughs, to which the summoner interjects and tells him he i s interrupting his entertainment in the WOB
- this is chaucer criticising the wife’s inability to tell a story with efficiencty, something in his opinion most women should have been able to do in medieval times
- the wife sarcastically responds to the ‘hooste’ asking if she has permission to continue her tale, ‘if i have licence of this worthy Freere.’ This characterises her as a bold, confident individual who does not care what men think
