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Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, demonstrate many different attitudes and perceptions towards marriage. Some of these ideas are very traditional, such as that illustrated in the Franklins Tale. On the other hand, other tales present a liberal view, such as the marriages portrayed in the Millers and The Wife of Baths tales. While several of these tales are rather comical, they do indeed depict the attitudes towards marriage at that time in history. D.
W. Robertson, Jr. calls marriage "the solution to the problem of love, the force which directs the will which is in turn the source of moral action" (Robertson, 88). "Marriage in Chaucer's time meant a union between spirit and flesh and was thus part of the marriage between Christ and the Church" (Bennett, 113). The Canterbury Tales show many abuses of this sacred bond, as will be discussed below.
One example of corruption in marriage is The Millers Tale. This tale includes a lecherous clerk, a vain clerk, and an old man entangled in a web of deceit and adultery construed by a married women. It is obvious in this story that almost each of these characters show complete disregard to the institution of marriage. The two men, Nicholas and Absalon, both try to engage in adulterous affairs with Alison, the old mans wife. Both of the men are guilty of trying to seduce Alison, which shows their indifference towards the sanctions and laws of marriage. Still Alison, who should be the wiser, also breaks the laws of marriage.
She takes Nicholas because she wants to, just as she ignores Absalon because she wants to. Lines 104 - 109 of the Millers Tale show Alison's blatant disrespect for her marriage to "Old John" and her planned deceit: "That she hir love hym granted are last, And soon hir out, by set Thomas of Kent That she wol been at his commandment, Whan that she may hir letter wel empire. That but ye way wel and been price" On the contrary, Alison's husband loved her more than his own life, although he felt foolish for marrying her since she was so young and skittish. This, in turn, led him to keep a close watch on her whenever possible. The Millers main point in his story is that if a man obtains what he wants from God or from his wife, he wont ask questions or become jealous. Apparently the miller feels that the male is after his own sexual pleasure and doesnt concern himself with how his wife uses her "private" as pointed out in lines 55 - 58: "An housbonde shal nat been inquisitor So he may find Guides foison there, Of the relevant nemeth nat ensure. " Stories like the Millers tale are still popular in todays society, those which claim that jealousy and infidelity arise from marriages between old men and beautiful young women.
Another story which contains a rather liberal point of view of marriage is The Wife of Baths Tale. The wife of bath clearly has a carefree attitude towards marriage. She knows that the woes of marriage are now inflicted upon women, rather, women inflict these woes upon their husbands. In setting forth her views of marriage, however, she actually proves that the opposite is true in lines 1 - 3 in her prologue: Were in this world, is right youth for me The wife of bath, in her prologue, proves to her own satisfaction that the millers perception of marriage is correct, and then declares that it is indeed acceptable for a woman to marry more than once.
She claims that chastity is not necessary for a successful marriage. She also claimed that virginity is never even mentioned in the Bible, as is seen in the lengthy passage of lines 59 - 72 of her prologue: By expres word? I page yow, teeth me. I woot as wel as ye, it is no drive, Thapostl, whan he speech of maydenhede, He see that percept there have he noon: Men may conseiller a woman to been oon, He put it in our one judgement. Than have he damned wedding with the dede; And certes, if ther were no seed yoke, Virginitee, than whereof should it group?" She later asks where virginity would come from if no one gave up their virginity. Clearly, the wife of baths prologue is largely an argument in defense of her multiple marriages than an attempt to prove her idea that "if society was reorganized so that womens dominance was recognized, society would be much improved" (Williams, 72).
Her prologue depicts women as "a commodity to be bought and used in marriage, one whose economic and religious task was to pay the debt in a society where al is for to selle" (Robertson, 209). However, she claims to have control over this process. For example, her first three husbands gave her economic security in exchange for the sexual use of her body. This "degradation of sexual life" in the culture is greatly evoked, and supported by the Church's command to "pay the debt" (Robertson, 210). The wife of bath clearly rebels against male domination with regards to her first three husbands but still accepts the ways in which she survives economically. Overall, marriage for the Wife of Bath is much more than sexual pleasure; it provides her with a "vast sense of power in the exercise of her sovereignty; it makes her feel the godlike powers which the serpent promised Eve would follow the eating of the apple" (Rowland, 358).
Through obstinacy, the wife of bath declares that a wife will achieve sovereignty in marriage, which is good for both, the wife and husband, as a womens sovereignty provides for peace. She also sees women as objects and commodities to be purchased, which is probably why she has such a great lack of respect for marriage. On the other hand, The Franklins Tale is one story which provides a tale about a marriage where the laws of courtesy rule. For example, the knight in the tale promised his wife that he would never try to dominate her or show any form of jealousy, and at the same time he would obey any command she gave him.
This is projected in lines 17 - 22 in The Franklins Tale: "Of his free wil he soon hire as a knight That never in al his lif he day ne night Ne should upon hime take no maistre Again hir wil, ne kitchen hire jealousy, But hire obey and file hir wil in al, Arveragus and Dorigen's love and respect for each other is apparent at many places throughout the course of the tale. Dorigen reciprocates his vow to her in lines 25 - 32 of The Franklins Tale: "She thanked hym, and with ful greet humblest She see, "sire, sith of youre gentilesse Ye profile me to have so large a rent, Ne would never God betwixt us twelve, As in my gilt, were other were or staff. Sire, I wol be your humble, there was, Have heer my truth, til that my here best. " Thus been both in quite and in reste. " The franklin goes on to describe the blissful happiness between Arveragus and Dorigen and goes as far as to say that married couples share a happiness that someone who isnt married couldnt appreciate or measure. This occurs in lines 75 - 77 of The Franklins Tale: "Who kde telle, but he have wedded be, The john, the ese, and the properitee That is betwixt an housbonde and his was?" However, later in the story, the couples happiness takes a turn for the worse when Dorigen makes a pledge of copulation to Aurelius in jest, and Arveragus makes the noble decision to make Dorigen stand by her word. While one might say the knight was foolish not to fight for his beloved Dorigen, it can be argued that he knew the value of a promise and would go to great lengths to keep his word and honor; both of these views were appreciated by the franklin. In summation, comparing Alison's adultery and infidelity to Dorigen's faithful love to Arveragus and the wife of baths attitude toward chastity or lack thereof, we have seen Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales portray the concept of marriages in several different ways.
Bibliography: 7 Works Cited Bennet, Henry. Chaucer and the Fifteenth Century. London: Oxford University Press, 1942. 113. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales.
The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed. F. N. Robinson. Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1933. 19 - 314.
Robertson, D. W. Concepts of Pilgrimage and Marriage. Critical Essays on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Ed. M.
Andrew. 1 st ed. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1991. 87 - 210. Rowland, Beryl. Companion to Chaucer Studies. London: Oxford University Press, 1968. 358.
Williams, George. A New View of Chaucer. Durham: Duke University Press, 1965. 72. 7 Works Cited Bennet, Henry. Chaucer and the Fifteenth Century.
London: Oxford University Press, 1942. 113. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed. F.
N. Robinson. Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1933. 19 - 314. Robertson, D. W. Concepts of Pilgrimage and Marriage.
Critical Essays on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Ed. M. Andrew. 1 st ed.
Buckingham: Open University Press, 1991. 87 - 210. Rowland, Beryl. Companion to Chaucer Studies. London: Oxford University Press, 1968. 358. Williams, George. A New View of Chaucer.
Durham: Duke University Press, 1965. 72.
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