The Wife of Bath: A Pre-Victorian Viewpoint - Essay Example

The Wife of Bath: A Pre-Victorian Viewpoint Feminist scholarship has explored the various issues and aspects of the ‘cult of True Womanhood.’ This phrase refers to an ideology that describes what it meant to be a True Woman beginning in the 1800s and extending into the 20th century. “The attributes of True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors and society, could be divided into four cardinal virtues – piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. Put them all together and they spelled mother, daughter, sister, wife – woman. Without them, no matter whether there was fame, achievement or wealth, all was ashes. With them, she was promised happiness and power” (Welter, 1966, p. 152). Scholarship has focused on how this ideology was promoted both by women and men, constricting others to ‘fall into line’ if they wished to be accepted in society. “The dominant image remains that of a middle-class housewife happily trading in agricultural labor alongside men for the joys of urban domesticity and childrearing” (Hewitt, 2002, p. 156). This ideology that worked to constrain women within the home and under the control of their male relatives is generally believed to have been the standard since time began, but stories such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath” from The Canterbury Tales demonstrate that not all women lived this sort of limited lifestyle. The Wife of Bath immediately breaks the rules of true womanhood by being involved in commerce as a highly skilled seamstress as she is described in the prologue to her story. This vocation allows her to be in charge of her income, something that a true woman of the chivalric code would never have a chance to pursue, while still retaining the type of freedom of movement the wife enjoys. With this freedom of commerce, the wife is able to flaunt many other customs by pursuing her own desires and styles of living. She tells lewd tales, has been married at least five times and has countless other lovers besides who are only hinted at with the comment that these marriages were “not counting other company in youth” (Chaucer, 2003, p. 17). She’s well traveled, having seen such widespread places as Jerusalem, Rome, Boulogne, Santiago and Cologne. Despite her success, the wife’s physical appearance does not present the kind of beauty that would immediately provide her with the type of power enjoyed by younger women. To begin with, she is described as being “deaf in either ear” (Chaucer, 2003, p. 2). She has a bold face that is fair, yet is also described as red, indicating too much time spent in the weather or perhaps in the beer barrel, further suggesting a lifestyle far different from that of the carefully protected, primarily indoor dwelling, Victorian lady. While it’s true her attire is described as being every bit as good as that of noble ladies, it is also described so as to indicate an ostentatious, flamboyant personality that demands attention, again flaunting the concept of the genteel woman while highlighting the idea of a freedom and fluidity that enables her to be who she wants to be. The tale told by the Wife of Bath is one of everyday life and love as opposed to the tales of chivalry and courtship that make up the majority of the old English canon. She speaks in a plain, straightforward way that includes actions not even recognized in more characteristic stories. Although her story begins with the adventures of a young knight, in true chivalric style, this knight acts most commonly in his first encounter with a woman. “In his path he saw a maiden walking / Before him, stark alone, right in his course. / This young knight took her maidenhead by force” (Chaucer, 2003, p. 231). Not only is the concept of a ‘maidenhead’ not a part of the usual language of chivalry and true womanhood, but the concept of a knight assaulting a woman, whom he’s sworn to protect in this manner does not fit into the elite view of the world. However, it does present the story from the more realistic terms that would be afforded by a woman, who would not be able to easily ignore such behavior regardless of the status of the woman in question. This crime is made even worse by the qualification that the knight in question was one of Arthur’s knights, the ideal of the chivalric tradition. Through the coarse language used within this story, Chaucer indicates the Wife of Bath has a greater freedom within her speech than that possessed by even the noble Knight, providing her with strength and freedom that is in keeping with the concept of a freer society and less rigid conformities (Bakhtin, 1981). In addition to the basic language used, the story told by the Wife of Bath is of a decidedly feminine perspective, bringing out the female character as a figure capable of possessing power and control. Uncharacteristically, it is the queen who spares the knight’s life following the rape and sends him on his quest. His punishment is to discover the one thing women most want and he must accomplish this task within the space of one year. He fails at this task until he finds an old woman sitting alone in a field. She agrees to tell him the answer but he must agree to accept her proposal of marriage. Therefore, his success is entirely dependent upon the willingness of a woman to assist him in his quest. Throughout this narrative, it is the woman who has complete control over the man; the older she is, the more control she has. It is the woman who proposes marriage and the man who must comply, however unwillingly. Through this story, the Wife of Bath presents an unarguable feminine perspective that differs significantly from what we understand of women’s behavior and social roles prior to the modern age. The eventual answer that emerges to the queen’s question in the wife’s story is that “Women desire to have the sovereignity / And sit in rule and government above” (Chaucer, 2003, p. 235). This is again illustrated as the young knight demonstrates he has learned to allow women the power to choose for themselves. “After the marriage, the ‘Curtain Harangue’ or curtain-lecture involves the hag speaking of gentilesse (of deed, not blood), poverty (equals honesty), and age (the knight will not find himself cuckolded). One would not expect all this from a young wife, but with experience comes wisdom” (Delahoyde, 2004). In each of these statements, the Wife of Bath argues against every understanding the majority of society held as nearly universal truths as well as argues her own continuing wish to be desired as an older and experienced woman. Such blatant sexuality is also in direct opposition to the concept of the virginal, young, innocent and sweetly beautiful image of the properly and male-defined courtly woman. The story gains a happy ending when the young knight demonstrates that he has learned his lesson through his own experience. “The hag gives the knight a difficult decision to make, and when he leaves the decision to her, he is rewarded with the best of both worlds. As charming as the story’s ending may be, the Wife nevertheless ends with a curse on those men who will not be ruled by their wives” (Delahoyde, 2004). Through her appearance, her manner, her language and her choice of subject matter, the Wife of Bath emerges as a woman very different from the depictions of women provided in the majority of Middle English texts. She is intelligent and witty, free to make her own decisions and more than capable of looking after herself. In many respects, she provides one of the only glimpses of the ordinary woman of the pre-Victorian age and it is for this reason that her story is important for students of English to become familiar with her. Works Cited Bakhtin, Mikhair. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M.M. Bakhtin. Ed. Michael Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973 (1981). Chaucer, Geoffrey. Canterbury Tales. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003. Delahoyde, Michael. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.” Washington State University. (2004). November 9, 2007 Hewitt, Nancy. “Taking the True Woman Hostage.” Journal of Women’s History. Vol. 14, N. 1. 2002, pp. 156-62. Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” American Quarterly. Vol. 18, N. 2, P. 1. 1966, pp. 151-74. Read More