How does the Wife of Bath's Tale (prologue included) uphold AND destroy the typical mysogynistic view of women during this time? What are...

Chaucer's Wife of Bath is an amazing character, especially considering the time period in which Chaucer created her. Her bold frankness is surprising for a woman—this attitude by itself defies the misogynistic tendencies of the Medieval era. As she relates her views in her prologue, we also see how she is the victim of unfair treatment from her husbands. Her movements are restricted, she is expected to behave according to the strictly defined rules of...

Chaucer's Wife of Bath is an amazing character, especially considering the time period in which Chaucer created her. Her bold frankness is surprising for a woman—this attitude by itself defies the misogynistic tendencies of the Medieval era. As she relates her views in her prologue, we also see how she is the victim of unfair treatment from her husbands. Her movements are restricted, she is expected to behave according to the strictly defined rules of “proper behavior,” and she is even physically abused. The Wife is not submissive, however, and in every case she fights back with guile, learning how to fool and manipulate her husbands through sex and misdirection.

In her tale, a young woman is raped by a knight, something that the knight probably expected to get away with—another unfortunate form of misogyny, and one that continues today. This time, the man gets his comeuppance when he is forced to marry an old woman and acquiesce all marital authority to her.

We see the women in this part of Canterbury Tales are both victims and perpetrators. We can only wonder how this part of the poem would have been received if it had been penned by a woman instead of a man, but alas, women were rarely given the opportunity to express themselves artistically at that time—yet another example of gender inequality that has only recently begun to fade.