Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay - Marriage in The Wife...

Marriage in Geoffrey Chaucers The Wife of Baths Prologue and Tale The disparity in the outcomes of the hags marriage and Alisons marriages in Geoffrey Chaucers The Wife of Baths Prologue and Tale depends in part on the womens differing expectations of their husbands. The hags modus agendi depends on a knights obligation to honour his pledge, whereas Alisons modus operandi depends on her husbands conduct after marriage, i.e. on her circumstances. Having saved the knights life, the hag asks the knight to permit her to be his wife. Moreover, she wants to be his love. The knight must marry, since marrying the hag lies within his might. Since the hags definition of being his wife includes her loving him, he is duty-bound to†¦show more content†¦Like husbands in real life, Alisons husbands are not knights. They do not submit to her will out of love for her beauty as she expects. Physically, she beats her fifth husband into submission, crucifies her philandering fourth on the cross of jealousy, and outwits her three horny, old husbands through fl attery and deceit, attacking their fidelity to extort payment for the marriage debt. Alisons marriages are battles, a state of war that continues until she wins the right to rule, after which she controls the marital assets and the stipulation of the marriage debt. She sexually abuses her old husbands, hints she wants her fourth dead, and curtails her young fifths reading. Vae victis - woe to the conquered. Aggressively, Alison pitches them into their purgatory, realizing the right to rule in her own hell. Alison defies ones expectations. Described by the narrator as a church-going woman nonpareil, she presents herself unflatteringly in her prologue. Blinding herself to her immorality with her verbose diatribe, she interprets the scriptures, classical literature, and mythology to suit her immediate needs. By interpreting Alisons tale as wish fulfillment, however, one can grasp for a handle to her motives, hopes, and agenda. The hag exploits the knight as a means to an end, to be young and beautiful. As she gets older, Alisons fading features will not sustain her narcissism. To love herself, she must be beautiful, even if only in the eyes of her next husband.Show MoreRelatedAttitudes Toward Marriage in Chaucers the Canterbury Tales1477 Words   |  6 PagesAttitudes Toward Marriage in Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Chaucers The Canterbury Tales demonstrate many different attitudes toward and perceptions of marriage. Some of these ideas are very traditional, such as that discussed in the Franklins Tale, and others are more liberal such as the marriages portrayed in the Millers and the Wife of Baths Tales. 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