EN 240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Pro-Feminism, Antifeminism, Geoffrey Chaucer
Document Summary
Wife of bath fits into the stereotypes of a woman who goes along with the antifeminism and misogyny but constantly argues against it throughout the prologue. Chaucer has been called the original male feminist due to the wife of bath"s argument in her prologue. Woman could be married from anytime puberty on. Lines 28-30: it is a woman"s only job to procreate, she doesn"t see what"s wrong with having a string of husbands. Lines 139-150: she doesn"t care what people think, she wouldn"t have sex organs if she wasn"t supposed to use them. Lines 184-193: the pardoner just wants her to get on with her tale. Lines 209-214: why should she please her husband if she is not getting anything in return, she will get money land or something else out of a marriage. Lines 452-468: when she was young she was playful and strong, her 4th husband had a mistress.
