Chaucer & wife of bath

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• Middelbare school
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• Leerjaar 5

Chaucer

The Old English Period

• c. 500-1066: Anglo-Saxon England
• until c. 900: present-day England divided into 7 seperate kingdoms
• c. 800:  attacks and invasions by Danes (Vikings)
• Danes control much of modern England: Danelaw
• Anglo-Saxons unite: Alfred the Great (c. 875)
• an abrupt end: 1066, the Norman Conquest

The Middle English Period

• 1066-1485: (later) Medieval England
• The Norman Conquest
• Social change: the feudal system
• Linguistic change: a new language
• Black Death in Europe
• A long war in France: the Hundred Years' War
• A bloody war at home: the Wars of the Roses
• 1485: beginning of the Tudor Period

01:22

The Canterbury Tales are told by

1. 24 people
2. 25 people
3. 26 people

01:39

Old English changing into Middle English started

1. in the 14th century, Chaucer's time
2. in the 11th century, Norman's time

02:39

In the feudal system there were three classes:

1. monks, knights and peasants
2. peasants, kings and knights
3. peasants, serfs and monks
4. intellectuals, serfs and merchants

02:56

Chaucer travelled through France, Italy and England because

1. he liked travelling
2. he liked meeting people
3. he worked for the government

03:16

All characters are from different classes and speak their own language. That is how Chaucer can mock all classes.

1. true
2. false

03:42

People like the Canterbury Tales because of

1. the history lessons you get
2. the variation in characters and stories

03:56

The book is apparantly unfinished. You can tell because

1. the prologue promises 29 pilgrims each telling 4 stories
2. the host of the inn never appointed a winner
3. Both A and B

Open Reader 

p. 6/7

All the information (and more!)

can be found there too!

The Canterbury Tales

• General Prologue: all pilgrims are presented individually
• Individuality is remarkable in 14th century
• Chaucer presents the pilgrims with gentle irony
• Pilgrims travelled in groups & stay at an inn, travelling was dangerous
• Written in the London dialect. 

Open Reader p. 8

Now read the translation & fill in questions 1 -3 

02:17

Why does the host of the Tabard inn propose a competition?

1. Because they all need something to do.
2. Because he is interested in his guests.

The Wife of Bath

- Dame Alison is one of the storytellers

- She stands out as a remarkable character

"She'd been respectable throughout her life, 

With five churched husbands bringing joy and strife, 

Not counting other company in youth; 

But thereof there's no need to speak, in truth. 
"

What do most women desire, according to the Wife of Bath?

1. sovereignty over their husbands
2. perfect beauty
3. true love
4. great wealth

What is the Wife of Bath's Tale about?

1. About John and Alayn, who go to a miller to have their corn milled. The miller steals some of their flour and the students seduce the wife and daughter of the miller.
2. About a poor student, Nicholas, who sleeps with the wife of his landlord, while his landlord hides in a tub.
3. About a merciless archdeacon, a summoner who extorts money and the devil disguised as a yeoman.
4. A knight rapes a maiden and as a punishment he has to find out what women want most.

The Wife of Bath's Tale

The tale concerns a knight accused of rape, whose life shall be spared if in one year he discovers what women most desire. He eventually turns to an ugly old witch who promises him the answer that will save his life if he will do the first thing she asks of him. The answer—that it is “maistrie,” or sovereignty over men, that women desire—is accepted in court, and the witch then demands that the knight marry her. In bed she asks him if he would wish her ugly yet faithful or beautiful and faithless. He insists the choice must be hers. This concession of her mastery restores her youth and beauty, and they live happily ever after.

Theme: Old Age

Old age makes one wise and useful. It does not, however, make one a suitable marriage partner for a young bachelor, which is why at tale's end, the old lady becomes a young damsel

Theme: sovereignty, and the desire for freedom

 At the beginning of the poem, when the woman is raped by the knight, therefore taking away her authority to make decisions on her own behalf. As the story progresses, and the night must discover what women desire the most, he learns that what women want most is their own sovereignty; to be able to make decisions on their own behalf. This poem expresses the natural desire for freedom in the lives of ordinary people. 

Theme: Women and femininity

Although "The Wife of Bath's Tale" begins with the sexual assault of a woman, the rest of it imagines a world in which women are sovereign and in which they mete out judgments, administer justice, and have power over men's bodies. This world is the one that women want, a world in which women most desire is sovereignty over their husbands and lovers.