Geoffrey Chaucer: A Founder of English Literature as a Feminist

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The main character
The only thing that matters
Dominant side in marriage
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

In the period of the middle ages, misogyny was considered a conventional attitude to women. Femininity was rejected by the clerical teaching as if women were born already sinful. The patriarchal system that existed at that time was another reason for proclaiming women inferior to men. In this respect, Chaucer’s interpretation of women from the feminist point of view pays the most attention. It is false to believe that Chaucer was anti-women because a great part of his work depicts strong and independent female characters even though it was rather unusual for medieval society. The outright expression of his feminist view is disclosed in his poem, Wife of Bathe.

Geoffrey Chaucer is considered the founder of English literature. To pursue him as a feminist, it is worth mentioning that his life was closely connected with the most influential women of that time such as Elizabeth Ulster, a wife of Prince Lionel. There, he serves as a household accountant. Arising from this, his feminist approaches were quite clear as he views the gender distinctions as something natural. Despite the distorted interpretation of gender in the patriarchal society, Chaucer’s vision of women contradicts the orthodox view of the biological distinction of males and females as the justification for gender inequality. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath could describe the poet as an outright feminist (Rigby 118).

The main character

In Canterbury Tales and in its prologue called Wife of Bath, the author depicts a woman with a strong character. The story is about a woman’s pilgrimage that was married five times. At first sight, she could be referred to feminist as she defends women’s rights and her domination over men. In the story, she tries to reveal herself as a strong feminist that could oppose the ideology of the middle ages. Her five marriages are a kind of affirmation of her sexuality and feminine nature that is widely rejected by the clerical teachings. Chaucer makes the readers view the woman who is not afraid to break the standards of society and to establish new ones. The wife was proud of the fact that she could easily manipulate her former husbands. In comparison with Wife of Bath, where marriage is considered as an effective means of manipulation, Franklin’s tale describes marriage as a sacred rite and the embodiment of harmony and happiness. It proclaims the confidence and love that confront Wife of Bath’s concept of superiority and female equality: “Love will not be constrained by the mastery; when mastery comes, the God of Love anon immediately beats his wings, and farewell, He is gone” (Chaucer Franklin’s Tale 765-766).

The only thing that matters

In Wife of Bath, the woman is confident that sex is the only thing that matters for her husband. Therefore, she was confident that she could control her husbands’ desires by satisfying them: “Say that men should be courteous to an old person and call him father and call him father, because of your nobility” (Chaucer Wife of Bath 1210). In this line, Chaucer, emphasizes women’s hypocrisy and snobbism. Her control of husband still supports the idea of her feministic view: “A husband I will have –I will not desist –who shall be both my debtor and my save and have his suffering also upon his flesh, while I am his wife” (Chaucer Wife of Bath 154-157). By this, Chaucer entails his heroine with male features as if proclaiming the equality of rights and. Like with Wife of Bath, Merchant’s Tale is also devoted to the problems of marriage and male-female relations. However, Merchant’s tale represents women as weak and inferior creatures who are deprived of freedom and human rights. Here, Chaucer shows marriage as a parody of love and romance. The tale makes an irony of female behavior thus rejecting the capability of women to love: “Whereas these bachelors sing “alas,” when they find any adversity in love, which is nothing but childish vanity” (Chaucer Merchant’s Tale 1274-1276).

Dominant side in marriage

Wife of Bath also depicts the woman’s dominant side in a marriage where a woman has the right to decide how to behave, as it was mentioned before. Hence, Chaucer’s feminist inclinations are brightly revealed here. However, Wife of Bath is an antagonist of Miller’s wife whom Chaucer refers not as to a woman but as to the trophy in the fight of two men: “How Alison! How John! Be merry, for the flood will soon pass” (Chaucer Miller’s Tale 3577) The tale, therefore, depicts absolute inferiority of a woman and uncovers the author as a real misogynist.

In addition in Chaucer’s General Prologue to Canterbury Tales depict Wife of Bath as a straightforward woman with her own opinion. In the tale, her deafness only indicates her refusal to listen to other opinions so that she likes to talk because she could hear the others: “But she was somewhat deaf and that was a pity, she had such a skill in cloth-making” (Chaucer General Prologue 446-447).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be stressed, Chaucer’s work Wife of Bath reveals him as a feminist because he depicts women as strong and independent personalities. Even though other tales manifest his pejorative attitude to women, still it is noteworthy that there are hues of the unconventional outlook of humanists on women. Relying on this, Chaucer could be considered one of the first feminists in the Middle Age.

Works Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey The General Prologue. 2008. Web.

Chaucer, Geoffrey The Franklin’s Tale. 2008. Web.

Chaucer, Geoffrey The Merchant’s Tale. 2008. Web.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Miller’s Prologue. 2008. Web.

Chaucer, Geoffrey The Wife of Bath. 2008. Web.

Rigby, Stephen Henry. Chaucer in context :society, allegory, and gender. UK: Manchester University Press, 1996.

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Geoffrey Chaucer: A Founder of English Literature as a Feminist

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