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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This is a 4 page paper that provides an overview of the Wife of Bath in the Canterbury Tales. Her characterization is viewed through a feminist lens. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KW60_KFlit084.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
and reveals much about the character of the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath begins by stating that she will give an account of the "woe that married life
affords", based on her experience of having been married five times (Wife of Baths Prologue, line 3). However, after this brief preamble, she launches into a massive philosophical defense of
her own life and actions, quoting sections from the Bible to refute claims that she is sinful for having married five times (Jesus, she says, "mentioned not one number or
another" in regards to how many marriages is proper), and pragmatically asserts that each time she married, the previous husband had already died (Wife of Baths Prologue, line 32). It
is plain from these arguments that she feels judged on a moral level for her actions, and as such is not actually comfortable just speaking from experience; instead, she wants
to be certain that everyone present agrees with her sentiment that she is still a good person, in spite of what society might perceive as moral transgressions. She literally cannot
bring herself to tell her story until she is assured of this, as shown by the fact that she states "I will now offer you my tale" on line 193,
but then carries on with scholarly and scriptural justifications for another 600 lines before doing so. When taken in conjunction with the Wifes depiction in the General Prologue as having
visited many holy sites, and the narrators statement that she "was a worthy woman all her life", it can be seen that Chaucer is developing the character of the Wife
of Bath as a sympathetic character; someone who is fundamentally good but who is defensive because her particular brand of goodness does not mesh well with the social norms of
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