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The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer around 1386, is a collection of tale told by pilgrims on a religious pilgrimage. Two of these tales, ? The Knight? s Tale? and?
The Wife of Bath? s Tale? , involve different kinds of love and different love relationships. Some of the loves are based on nobility, some are forced, and some are based on mutual respect for each partner. My idea of love is one that combines aspects from each of the tales told in The Canterbury Tales. In? The Knight?
s Tale? , the love between the two knights and Emelye is intensely powerful. The love that Palomon and Arcite feel towards Emelye is so strong that the two knights feel that it is worth more than their own lives. At one point, Palomon tells Arcite that he shall either have Emelye or he shall die. The love that Palomon feels for Emelye is so overwhelming that he is willing to take on an armed man, in mortal combat, just for the love of a woman. Perhaps he feels that without her, he will surely die, so why not die trying to win her? The ironic fact about the relationship between each knight and Emelye is the fact that Emelye does not wish to marry either of the knights.
She is aware that she is just a prized possession, one that is not fully known, because she has never exchanged a single word with either gentleman. However, in that time period, she could not easily express her feelings, and if she were able to, those feelings would most likely be ignored. Like already mentioned, this is so ironic because Arcite and Palomon are about to kill each other for Emelye? s love and she doesn? t want to be loved by either of them.
She enjoys the thrills of maidenhood too much to have them ended by marriage. While all this is going on, no one stops to think that neither Arcite nor Palomon has ever truly gotten to know the dear Emelye. While they are both incarcerated, Palomon speaks very highly of Emelye? s beauty. All of what he has to say of her is about her physical attractiveness. This is not something that I would want to base my ideal love on.
Looks will age, but the heart will not. In? The Wife of Bath? s Tale? , a knight is forced to marry a wretched old woman. The knight and the old woman do not get along well, and when the old woman suggests that she make things better, the knight responds saying that the woman is old and that nothing good could come out of this situation.
A love relationship such as this could never last because there is no attraction-physical or mental. A major factor in love is physical attraction between the two partners. Here there is no attraction. Two people cannot love each other if they cannot stand to be in one another? s presence.
The knight can hardly bare to look at his wife, let alone sleep with her. Despite the fact that the knight despises her, the old woman persists on getting the knight to love her. While the knight is complaining about how terrible his marriage is, the old woman says he will give him the choice of she either being old and unattractive, or young and more attractive, making males more attracted to her. She tried to give him the choice of which way he wanted her, when in all reality, she was gaining more control over him by allowing him to think he had control over her. After this, the old woman continues on, convincing the knight that she is worthy of him. He finally gives in and agrees.
Sometimes it is necessary to convince the other person that they do, in fact, love you. The love between the knight and the old woman started out as a forced relationship and was greatly regretted. After the old woman pointed out some good qualities, their relationship blossomed into a beautiful, loving relationship. The love between the two of them was based greatly on respect. From the beginning, the knight offers her respect and freewill.
He swore to her as a knight, that he would never take an authoritarian role over her, nor show jealousy to her, but would obey her, as any over ought his lady. The knight in this tale knows how to win a lady. By giving her respect and allowing her to do as she pleases, by not keeping her on a short leash, he wins her respect and therefore, they build a very powerful love relationship. Another attribute to their strong relationship is faithfulness. When a young squire tells the knight?
s wife of his love for her, she tells him that she would never be unfaithful. With faithfulness comes safety. If a person feels safe in a relationship they tend to stay there, making the relationship so much stronger. Each of the love relationships I have just described contains qualities that I feel are essential in my ideal love relationship. I feel that passion is important, as in? The Knights Tale? , when Palomon is willing to fight Arcite for Emelye.
This adds excitement to the relationship. Sometimes persistence can play an important role in a love relationship, as it did in? The Wife of Bath? s Tale? , when the old woman persists that the knight should love her. Finally, I feel that respect plays a key role in making a good love relationship. When two people love and respect each other, it helps build a very strong and rewarding love relationship.
However, for every quality that I enjoy in each story, there is also a quality that I feel is detrimental to a blissful relationship. For instance, in? The Wife of Bath? s Tale? , the knight is forced into a love relationship that he is to learn to love, which I think would usually lead to an unsuccessful relationship.
Each person is represented to fit a unique type of behavior as shown by people during the Medieval Ages. The Wife of Bath is noted to be strong and bold, and we learn that she has been married and widowed five times, along with having numerous amounts of companions. During a unique introduction in? The General Prologue? , we learn much of her physical attributes.
The Wife of Bath is gap-toothed. This physical feature is attributed to lust and passion. The fact that she could ride a horse easily also could take on sexual connotations. Early in? The Wife of Bath Prologue? , the Wife of Bath declares that experience is more important to her than knowledge. She is confident about her knowledge of love, virginity, and marriage (after all, she has been married five times).
Just as men use the Bible to justify women? s oppression, so did the Wife of Bath. She states that double standards for women are deeply rooted in society. The Wife of Bath addressed and dispels the justification for multiple marriages through biblical figures and stories. The Wife of Bath relied on the Bible to justify her unaccepted views, but when the Bible did not favor her views, she simple disregarded it. The Wife of Bath is a widow, and therefore it is assumed that she would dress rather conservatively.
This is not the case for the Wife of Bath. Her clothing is flamboyant with scarlet red leggings, soft new shoes, a broad hat, and spurs on her feet. She is obviously not dressed in a typical manner or style of other women in her time. She disapproved of her husband? s attempts to inflict control upon her.
She desires freedom and wants financial information to be disclosed to her along with her own independence. The Wife of Bath believes that all women wait is to gain control over their husbands. The fact that she is a skilled seamstress and weaver demonstrates that she is financially independent. This in itself establishes that her character is not a typical medieval woman. Through weaving, she is self-reliant and really does not need financial support by a man. She is a woman that maintained control of her life and the life of her men.
That was not a common role that most women took in that time. The Wife of Bath has used men in her life for riches. She leans toward a feminist nature and seems resentful toward most men. For women, she is easy to respect and admire. She is an intelligent woman, however, she may not know the limits of her games. That is the beauty of society.
Thousands of years after this novel has been written, men and women still don not know what one another want. In taking both Psychology and Sociology this year, I hope to grasp a better understanding on how both sexes co-exist with one another.
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Research essay sample on Wife Of Bath Tale
