Feminist views in the Canterbury Tales Essay

The book The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer h agings a appeal of stories based in medieval generation of several people undergoing a journey. along the way individually character scratch to tell a story that teaches a moral. These stories all have their own protagonists that divvy up the storytellers beliefs and each tarradiddle is t darkened with a unique viewpoint on the changing world. At the shoemakers last of each tale, the main character faces their judgment or deliberation and a lesson imparts itself upon them. The wife of cleans tale and the nun buoys priest tale both comprise this idea clearly and sh are strange views on the role of women during the m period. In the pro-feminist tale of the Wife of Bath the t dismisser horse faces his judgment at the end when he allows his wife to choose her fashion and, in the antifeminist nuns non-Christian priest tale, the putz, known as Chanticleer, faces his judgment when the corn dodger kidnaps him.The first character that faces his reckoning is the both-year-old knight in the tale told by the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath presents a pro-feminist view in a time when women were seen as objects and the dilemma the knight faces relates to the base of the story of how trusting in women unendingly results in happiness. The knight rapes a foremost and is punished by the queen and squeeze to find what women want the most. Just as the knight is about to give up his search, he stumbles upon a ragged old woman that tells him that she has the answer he seeks besides will provided reveal it to him if he promises to complete a task for her in the future. He says yes and she tells him that women want dominion all over their husbands.He faces his reckoning at the end of the story, after he has married the old woman, when his wife allows him to choose her appearance. He responds, My peeress and my love, and wif so dere, I putte me in youre immaterial governaunce (p234 lines 1236-1237). He is then rewarded for giving achievement to his wife and she chooses to be beautiful and faithful. The knight reaches this epiphany through his journey, as he had to treat women with respect and give them dominion over himself in order to save his life. This reckoning is capture for the knight because, at the seed of the story, he did not respect women save, throughout his search, he observes that treating women equally and being tame to them leads to happiness.The second character that faces his reckoning is Chanticleer from the Nun Priests tale. Chanticleer is the best rooster in all the land but one day he has a bad fancy. He tells his wife of his dream and she lashes out at him saying, I cornerstone nat love a coward, by my faith. For certes, what so any womman saith, we alle desiren, if it energy be, to han a housbondes stalwart wise and free (p252 lines 91-94). This idea demarcation lines greatly with that of the Wife of Baths, which said that women only want dominio n over their husbands. Chanticleer chooses to slew his dream, against his own wishes, in order to recreate his wife. However, he comes to face his judgment when a fox comes and steals him from the coup.Chanticleer is almost killed for listening to his wife but manages to escape the foxs grip and get away. This judgment is appropriate for Chanticleer as he represents male domination in society. When he listens to his wife supra his own intuition he is tight killed. This tales shows a strong antifeminist viewpoint, in contrast with that of the Wife of Bath, and portrays women as the downfall of man. The bank clerk even says, Wommenes conseils broughte us first to wo, and do Adam fro paradis to go, there as he was ful merye and wel at ese. But for I noot to whom it ability displese if I conseil of women wolde blame, pass over (p259 lines 436-442).The Wife of Bath and the Nuns Priest tale both show how the characters set about their reckoning after listening to the women in thei r lives. In the Wife of Baths tale the knight is rewarded for treating women with respect while, in the Nuns Priest tale, Chanticleer is punished. Chaucer wrote these two stories because they show the brushing of views on womens roles in society at that time. speckle the Wife of Bath supports womens rights, the Nuns priest tale condemns them and says women are nothing but pure evil. This clash still exists today and one might wonder if people today could learn a lesson from these two characters.