The Significance of Women in Chaucers The Cantebury Tales Essay

The Significance of Women in Chaucers The Cantebury chronicles In Geoffrey Chaucers The Cantebury Tales, many stories are told leading to a wide range of topics. One particular and significant topic Chaucer touches on many times is the role of women. In stories such as The Millers Tale, The Knights Tale, and the married woman of Baths Tale the women of each story are portrayed extremely different. Alisoun, Emelye, and the wife of Bath, each exemplify three dissimilar ways in which women love. The way Chaucer describes each of these characters is hooklike on the out come of each particular story. Chaucer is careful with his word choice and figurative language with each woman, enabling the reader to get a very visual and sometimes humorous picture. Since the Millers Tale is a parody of the Knights Tale there is great wit when it comes to the role that Alisoun plays. Emelye on the other hand, is constructed in a more serious and respectful way. Emelye of the Knights Tale has two me n madly in love with her- Arcite and Palamon. These two men are imprisoned for carriage and can only imagine the idea of loving and having Emelye as a wife. Palamon upon seeing Emelye cries, Into myn herte, that wol my bane ./ The fairnese of that lady that I see / Yond in the gardyn romen to and fro / Is cause of al my criying and my wo. / I noot where she be woman or goddesse. . . (1097-1101). His statement of love is so profound that Palamon is not even sure if Emelye is a woman or a goddess, but is sure of her fairness and beauty. Arcite also loves Emelye and ridicules Palamons thoughts about Emelye being a goddess, he states, Though woost nat yet now / Wheiter she be a womman or goddesse(1156-1157). When Arcite locomote in... ...e and foolish people can act while in love this is something that many stories try to teach their readers. Finally, somehow, Chaucer may have been reaching out to women with The Wife of Baths Tale, although some believe she is used as an anti-femini st tool, perhaps Chaucers point was to have that woman teach other women the positives of being in control. No matter what content these women bring, Chaucer clearly appreciates their importance not only to his readers, but also to his tales. Works Cited Brown, Peter. Chaucer at Work The Making of the Cantebury Tales. New York Longman Group, 1994. Cooper, Helen. The Structure of The Cantebury Tales. Athens The University Of Georgia Press, 1984. Pursell, Willene caravan Loenen. Love and Marriage in Three English Authors Chaucer, Milton, and Eliot. Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, 1963.