Wife of Bath Tale: The Role of Women in the Medieval Period
The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale are two of the most famous and widely read parts of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Her frank discussion of marriage, her five husbands, and her sixth love – which she reveals to be knowledge – has made her one of the most intriguing characters in the book. In this article, we explore the role of women in medieval times, their lives as wives, and what life would have been like for the Wife of Bath.
Women in the Middle Ages
It’s necessary to remember that the medieval period spanned many different centuries. Women’s lives and roles varied a great deal depending on when they lived. In the early Middle Ages, women were more likely to work outside the home, be literate, and have control of their own possessions. As time passed, women became increasingly restricted in their roles and dependent on male relatives. With these caveats in mind, we can say that life as a woman during the Middle Ages would have been difficult. Women were valued primarily as child-bearers and domestic workers. They were not permitted to inherit land or hold public office. Women’s appearances were regulated by sumptuary laws that specified how they should be dressed. Even their sexual conduct was regulated: a woman who was raped was considered to have committed adultery.
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Marriage for Medieval Women
For most women, marriage was a condition of life. Women were expected to marry, but they often had little say in whom they married. Parents or guardians often arranged marriages for minors, and sometimes adults were forced to marry against their will. Marriage ceremonies varied but often included a woman’s future husband walking around her, trying to overturn her bridal sandal. If he turned the sandal over three times, it was considered a bad omen. A woman’s new husband would then give her a wedding ring, which signified that she was now under his protection. Women who married for love were often seen as committing a sin. The Church taught that people should marry for pragmatic reasons such as social class, financial security, or having children. Love was not a valid reason for marriage at the time.
Wife of Bath’s Tale: humping, kissing and friendship
Humping is one of the most notable themes in the Wife of Bath’s Tale. The word “hump” was a Middle English term for sexual intercourse, and it’s an appropriate word to describe the story’s lengthy depiction of a man humping a woman on top of a giant tree. The woman in the story is frustrated because she wants to have sex, but her husband refuses to have intercourse with her because he’s upset that she’s been sleeping with other men. The woman and her friends decide that she should go out and sleep with each of her husband’s friends to make him jealous. She has sex with five of her husband’s friends until she is “humped out,” at which point she returns home and tells him about her escapades.
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Wife of Bath: HSMV and whoring
The Wife of Bath’s frank discussion of sex and her many lovers has often been thought to indicate that she was a “harlot.” However, there are good reasons to believe that the Wife of Bath was not a prostitute when she was younger. A medieval harlot was a woman who engaged in sex for payment. If the Wife of Bath was a harlot, she would have had to have worked for a long time to save up enough money to buy the five husbands that she had. The Wife of Bath was likely an “honest” woman who had many sexual partners. The word “honest” in the Middle Ages did not mean “morally correct” but rather “not a prostitute.” When the Wife of Bath says that she was “honest” in her youth, she means that she did not work as a prostitute.
Wife of Bath: Conclusion
The Wife of Bath’s frank discussion of her sexual adventures and her many husbands has led readers to view her as a feminist icon. However, it would be a mistake to view the Wife of Bath as a modern-day feminist. She was not a feminist in the modern sense because she did not seek equality with men. The Wife of Bath’s goal was to obtain control over her own life and her own body. She believed that women should be able to marry as many times as they wanted and have sex as much as they wanted. The Wife of Bath may have been a strong woman, but she did not want men and women to have the same rights. She wanted women to have more rights than they had at the time.
