Each person has a distinct personality that we can recognize from the way people behave today. He purposely makes The Wife of Bath stand out more compared to the other characters. In Chaucer’s «General Prologue,» the Wife of Bath is intentionally described in an explicit way to provoke a shocking response. There were two women who represented the sinner or the saint.
Eve caused the downfall of all men « supposedly» whereas the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ, symbolized purity. She shows off her Sunday clothes with evident pride, wearing ten pounds of cloth, woven by herself under her hat. Her clothing symbolizes to the reader that she is not timid or shy and also shows off her expertise as a weaver. Chaucer discusses his words to describe the Wife quite distinctly.
The features that Chaucer pays attention to describing Alison should be noticed. In the «General Prologue,» Chaucer's description involves her physical appearance describing her clothes, legs, feet, hips, and most importantly her gap-tooth, which during that time , symbolized sensuality and lust. He discusses how she is a talented weaver and devoted Christian who goes on pilgrimages often. This may make the reader believe that she is a religious woman, but the reader later sees that the Wife's reason to go on these pilgrimages is not due to religion.
In the «Wife of Bath's Tale,» Alison is suggesting control that women should have. She cannot accept defeat no matter what the cost. She feels that this is the way things should be and men should obey her. She should not be controlled or told what to do by others, especially by a man.
She displays a very sick and power-thirsty attitude when she says, «In wifehood wol I use my instrument as freely as my Makere hath it sent. An housbonde wol I have, I wol nat lette, which shall be bother my detour and mt thrall, and have his tribulacion withal upon his flesh while that I am his wife» . She is boldly saying that she wants to use her «instrument» or body as a weapon and that she owns her husband, who owes her. Since she is his wife she feels he should bow to her.
I, as a woman, no matter how bad men are, would claim that a man should be a woman’s slave. The Wife of Bath believes that experience is the greatest authority, and since she has been married five times, she certainly considers herself an authority on the. It is ironic to see the even though is not religious but, she uses the Bible as justification to pardon her behavior. It upsets her when her fifth husband, a clerk, is more interested in books than he was in her.
When she does not establish supremacy over her fifth husband it seems to excite her because she seems to like challenges. While he is reading a collection of stories about how bad women are she snatches the book and rips some pages out. She pretends to be dead trying to make him feel guilty. Alison is not a woman who cares about changing the world for the benefit of other women who are subordinate to men.
She is not a feminist fighting for the rights of all women. She claims to know what pleasures men because she is experienced. This proves that she is not fighting for liberation of women. Giving in to the man's desire goes against feminist beliefs.
At first the reader might think that she is trying to win women freedom and liberation. She herself says that women are the cause of men's suffering. Her reasons are selfish filled with greed of sex and control on all men. I cannot in any sense relate to a person like her because she is an extremely selfish, power-hungry, and immoral woman.
Her whole character focuses on her craving for sex and her urge to give men pleasures through sex.
