Debate Whether the Wife and Her Tale Are Feminist - Essay Example

In the medieval society there was nothing like feminism. Women were perceived as inferior in the society. They did not even take part in putting across their suggestions. Men were held responsible for leadership roles and all decision making. In some cases, it was forbidden for a woman to give instructions in the midst of men. This made women the least influential group in the society. In the book by Geoffrey Chaucer, The wife of Birth, the setting of the book lies in this particular timeline.

A timeline whereby women were voiceless features in the society. However, in the novel there are bits of feminism. There are points in which women were given so much authority than even the men. For example, at some point in the novel the queen was asked to pass judgment on a knight. Relating this scenario to the time setting of the novel it looks impossible to believe. Is the book by Geoffrey based on feminism? Are the characters in the book feminist? Based on examples the paper will focus to answering the questions.

In my opinion neither the novel nor the characters in the novel are based on feminism. This is because the authority given to women in the novel was out of will and sometimes earned. It was the call of the men on whether or not to give women the pleasure of taking certain responsibilities. For example, the rape crime committed by the knight was only punishable by he king. However this was not the case. The king sentenced the knight to a death penalty. The queen took interest on the matter and requested for an opportunity to judge the man (Chaucer, pp. 896). At this point, the king would have accepted or rejected the result without any consequences.

The queen was granted her request but out of the will of the king. The queen had no right whatsoever to pass judgment on the knight. This proved that women still had no authority to make judgments of that magnitude. The marriage of the knight to Jankyn was also made by choice of the man. It was viewed as a responsibility of the knight to return the favor. After helping the knight out to solutions to the queen’s question, Jankyn felt obligated to get married to the knight (Chaucer, pp.524). The knight did not have that obligation but he accepted by choice.

This was not a sign of feminism. In the novel the fact that Jankyn left her wealth for the course of love was a show of negative feminism. Wealth and economics were the major tools by which women would have authority. However, giving up her wealth for love proved women in the book had no characteristics of feminism. However, wealth, marriage and relationships had a relationship. It was the duty of women to fulfill sexual obligations to their husbands (Chaucer, pp.79). This was mandatory only in marriage.

Without marriage, men usually solicited sexual; favors from women through offering of money. In a feminism setting, women would have been given authority to dictate sexual relationships even in marriage. However, Alisoun case was different. She always claimed that she was the head of the house. She dictated the sexual relationship in her marriage (Chaucer, pp.425). She had high levels of sexual desires and urge. The behavior of Alisoun was not justified in a marriage setting. She did not display any characteristics of a good wife.

This made her a weak link in the society and no authority whatsoever. She created a negative perception towards her as a wife. According to Alisoun, men