Class notes: 09.30.03
Topic: The Wife of Bath/ Feminism � Where does she get off?
We are going to be looking at the Wife of Bath and issues concerning Feminism. To the men in the class, I do not want you to feel guilty about the many years of oppressing women, even though you are guilty! Posts question: Where does the Wife of Bath get off?
Discussion:
The wife speaks from personal experiences.
smarter than she looks
�Carnival� setting allows her to speak as a woman
Married @ 12!
Her attitude is the result of (traumatizing) experiences in her life.
Objectifying those experiences
Satire of Men
the dream of a purely sexual woman
dangers of abstractions
telling the story of what women want
Obedience from men.
Binary system:
Men/ Women
The Wife of Bath�s story shows that she wants to flip the binary opposition to Women/Men
Confusion = Instability for the Reader:
she misquotes from books
She gets the tale wrong.
the moral is supposed to be (like in Shrek) that beauty is on the inside.
For the Wife of Bath (WOB) the moral is that women should be on top.
so, because she screws up stuff, this is a satire of WOB?
she doesn�t really have a voice?
Maybe Chaucer let her make mistakes so that people could take a �smart� woman a little easier?
Remember the scene where she rips paper out of her husband�s book?
that scene reveals that the way men think about women is wrong
Dangers of Abstractions:
Not violence against the husband, but violence against the patriarchal tradition.
After he hits her, he feels so bad that he realizes the type of person he should be.
Doubt is cast on authority. Don�t believe in books. But it�s written in a book!
Gentilesse (line 1116) � where is true gentility found? Is it born/natural? Or is it taught? Taught by others to follow external forms?
Gentility is just an idea that people have to define for them selves.
Who you are is what you do? Line 1176: he is gentile that does good deeds.
People are what they are capable of doing and what they think they are.
It�s also how others label you, too. Your background and expectations will have some influence.
Problem: Anyone who acts gently has the right to be called a gentleman.
Counter hierarchical, democratic
How does WOB resist some of the established hierarchies?
1. Reversal of M/F roles
2. reversal of authority/experience
3. reversal of the ideas of what makes a good person
ex. I was watching a movie the other day and it portrayed the guys from the upper class as jerks, while the lower class guys were nice.
4. reversing our expectations of the literary form
diversions (interruptions), changes, challenges
Is the WOB admirable?
I think she took things too far. Not to be admired.
She pushes the limits set by men. Her voice is heard.
She reinforces male stereotypes, though. She�s disorganized, and she confuses people.
It is admirable that she throws it back in men�s faces. The dream becomes a nightmare. Dangers of abstractions.
It is interesting, however, that she tells a story about rape. Why do you suppose nobody (including WOB) cared about the maiden?
Maybe Chaucer allows WOB to be as careless about the tale as the society would have been.
The WOB was wealthy, a sexual woman, and she told a story about rape.
Is there a connection between sexuality and property?
Ownership
Marriage = sexual license; transference of property
Rape is treating women as property.
having the sex w/o transference of property
Violence (Beowulf): property/murder connection
Knight has the ability to say he has taken her virginity.
Rape/Property: both about power
WOB doesn�t value virginity.
If God created sex, we should have as much of it as possible
The WOB wants women to be in control, so because the Knight allows his new wife to be in control, the situation/punishment is justified to WOB. The Knight has learned his lesson.
