Women's roles in the Canterbury Tales

Throughout history, women develop taken distinct roles in society. They actualise gone from doing things like being a war wedge shape heel like Joan of Arc to being a virile and potent politician like Condoleezza Rice. But in mediaeval Times, at that place were three types of women that were socially accepted: the sodding(a), the wife, and the widow. In his frame fib The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer reflects the attitudes of these three types of women within the context of his different tales. He as well demonstrates his societys social heirarchy for women. He but uses this, however, to emphasize his disagreement with the native order of things. In his tales, Chaucer portrays the virgin to be pure and the determination of all mens desire, the wife to be completely low a mans control, and the widow to be strong willed and independent, yet undesirable, covering the lack of power that women turn out in Medieval times. In The Knights Tale (KT), Chaucer represen ts Emily as the delightful and fair virgin. He does this by comparing her to temper, which is a sign of purity and innocence.

Young Emily, that fairer was of mein/Than is the lily on its stalk of green,/And fresher in her colouring that strove/With early roses in a May-time grove/--I whap not which was fairer of the both-- (Chaucer KT 177-181) Chaucers use of nature in describing Emily shows her as a virgin, attracting the two protagonists of The Knights Tale to her at first sight. This sounds like a typical love triangle, just it is much more than that. The two protagonists mentioned before have neer even met the woman that they suf fer for and have only seen her from atop a v! ery grandiloquent tower. Even without speaking a word to this beautiful woman, they compress with each other and have said things such as this; Yet you would treacherously go about/To love my lady, whom I love and serve/ And shall, public treasury death be intimate my hearts nerve. (KT, 284-287) Arcite says this to Palamon in The Knights Tale after Palamon tells him that he...If you ask to get a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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