The Canterbury Tales: Wife Of Bath

In the Hollywood blockbuster Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone plays a devious,
manipulative, sex-driven woman who gets whatever she wants through her
ploys for control. Stone's portrayal of this character is unforgettable
and makes the movie. In book or film, the most memorable female characters
are those who break out of the stereotypical “good wife” mold. When an
author or actress uses this technique effectively, the woman often carries
the story. In Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, he portrays the Wife
of Bath, Alison, as a woman who bucks the tradition of her times with her
brashness and desire for control to present a woman's point of view and to
evoke some sympathy for her.

In ...

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(P16).
Despite this quote from the holy writ, the Wife states that ther are no
other arguments “Eek wel I woot he [Jesus] saide that myn housbonde/Sholde
lete fader and moder and take me,/But of no nombre mencion made he [Jesus]-
-/Of bigamye or of octagamye” (P30). She maintains her position and
dismisses the one contention in the Bible by stating in relation to the
above quote “Wat that he mente therby [she] can nat sayn,/But that I axe
why the fifthe man/Was noon housbonde to the Samaritan?/How manye mighte
she han in mariage?/Yit herde I nevere tellen in myn age/Upon this nombre
diffinicioun” (P20). A true account of her brashness is when she states
that sex organs are for pleasure as well as function. She states that “In
wifhood wol I use myn instrument/As freely as my Makere hath it sent”
(P155). She displays her ruthless side when she makes her cheating husband,
the fourth, think that she is cheating and revels in this victory by saying
“in his own greece I made him ...

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 5/11/2004 07:48:54 AM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 862
Pages: 4

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