Chaucer's Wife of Bath acts in all ways womanly yet none at all. Chaucer brilliantly composes his character to not only highlight the commonly associated vices of women, but also to demonstrate the fragile and angelic character traits. As promiscuous and loud the wife of Bath is, she possesses a strong desire of loyal companionship. In her story, she further demonstrates these two sides of her personality. When the young man is asked whether he'd prefer a wife who is beautiful and promiscuous or ugly and loyal, Chaucer (through the Wife of Bath) satirizes the restrictive misogynous view of "the two types of wife". Although to satirically prove a point, Chaucer admits truth in the stereotype he illustrates, the Wife of Bath holding a great deal of womanly vices.
On the other side of Medieval feminism, Christine de Pizan presents in her The Book of the City of Women a view of woman void of satire and vices seen in Chaucer's work. Here, Christine portrays herself learning about the role, rights, and capabilities of women from divine 'Reason'. She writes with the eloquence of classical Latin commonly associated with that of a man's oratory, also providing her character with the classical and traditional virtues often associated with philosophers.
However, de Pizan later wrote a book satirizing the view of women in her medieval societal context. The Querelle du Roman de la Rose presents women both as treasures to obtain through courtly love but also satirically as creatures of vicious seduction to be watched closely.
The Franklin's Tale begins with a love story between a noble knight named Arveragus and a beautiful noblewoman named Dorigen. The two marry, and promise to each other that they would remain faithful under all circumstances.
Soon, Arveragus goes off on a two-year journey, leaving Dorigen at home, mourning the absence of her husband. She often sat on the shore of Brittany, contemplating the dangers that confront her husband's life. While in her isolation, Aurelius, an equally courteous and handsome man, falls in love with Dorigen. When he reveals his love to her, she rejects him, sending Aurelius into a deep sadness. She tries to comfort Aurelius by saying that if he was able to remove all the stones from the shore of Brittany, she would be his, assuming that this task was beyond possible. Aurelius first tries to do this himself, but eventually hires a young magician to do the task for a large sum of money, and the task is done successfully.
Aurelius shows Dorigen that her request had been fulfilled, and she begins to weep, knowing that she had betrayed her husband. At this time, Arveragus returns and sees his weeping wife, she explains her predicament and then he allows her to go to Aurelius to fulfill her promise. Aurelius, when he heard of Arveragus's graciousness, he returned Dorigen to him. Aurelius also realised that he didn't have enough money to pay the magician, but upon hearing the story, he cancelled his debt.
The Wife of Bath's Tale is yet another odd tale of Chaucer's collection in Canterbury Tales. The tale begins by describing the British Isle, which was once a place of elves and faeries. Now, it has been overrun by friars and other political and ecclesiastical leaders, who go through the country raping women.
One lustful knight is travelling and finds a beautiful maiden among Kng Arthur's people. He is so overcome with lust and the ability to do as he pleases, he rapes her. He is discovered and it is decided that he shall be executed. However, the queen among other ladies of Arthur's court intervene, pleading that his life be spared. It is then decided that he shall go out and discover what it is that all women truly desire, and if he fails to do so, he shall be executed.
The knight sets out, unsure of where to begin, he goes around asking women of different regions, towns, shires, and cities, what is it they most desire. All of them gave different answers. He continued to do this for sometime before giving up, and finally making a return journey to Arthur's court to receive justice.
On the return journey, the knight comes across a group of dancing women. Upon approach, they vanish, and instead, an old hag stands before him. The knight still explains his dilemma, and she insists that she can help, but in return she, the knight must do as she wishes. As his final attempt at saving his own life the hag returns with him to Arthur's court.
She speaks in front of Arthur's court, on the knight's behalf, saying that all that women desire is to have complete control over their husbands. All the women in the court agree with this statement. The hag however, requests that the knight marry her. The knight is horrified but reluctantly must agree to as she says.
After several days of being married to this old woman, the knight is encaptured in immense sadness. He vocalises his discontented spirit with his old wife and she asks if he'd rather have an faithful ugly wife, or a promiscuous beautiful wife. Unsure, the knight lets the hag decides, and thus provides her with control: what it was she truly desired. She immediately turns into a faithful and beautiful wife.
In this odd tale, Chaucer makes use of a folklore-esque tale about animals to speak truth about humans, much like Aesop's Fables.
Chanticleer is a rooster, one known for his beauty and crow. He is also quite a proud rooster, but perhaps he is deserving to be. He falls in love and eventually 'marries' (or whatever is the poultry equivalent) an equally beautiful hen named Pertelote. The two are happy and live on as such until one day when Chanticleer is disturbed by a dream in which he is attacked by an "orange beast". Pertelote tells him not to be troubled by it, assuming it to be a physical ailment. And so, the two live happily again.
Their happiness is again interrupted one fateful day. As Chanticleer is out once day in the yard, a fox comes by and spots Chanticleer. Initially alarmed, remembering his dream, Chanticleer begins to leave, but the fox promises no harm. The fox begins to sing to Chanticleer of his own great beauty. As he does so, Chanticleer closes his eyes and stretches his neck to further demonstrate his beauty. The fox quickly takes his opportunity and lunges at the rooster, grabbing the throat and leaping back into the woods from whence he came.
Pertelote begins grieving upon hearing the news, and quickly gathers a party to avenge her husband. A band of dogs go into the woods to find the fox running up a tree with the alive Chanticleer in his mouth. Chanticleer suggests that the fox flatters the dogs to save their lives, and as he opens his mouth to do so, Chanticleer flies out to another tree.
The fox, as a final attempt, begins flattering Chanticleer once again to get him to come back. Chanticleer declares that he has learned his lesson of humility and the deceptive nature of flattery.
Geofferey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales serves as a complex poetic satire of the late-Medieval English society he lived in. In the general prologue, Chaucer introduces all of the characters in the rest of the tale, accounting for their poor character traits as lightly as possible. However two characters in particular give examples of how Chaucer does this, the Pardoner and the Oxford Cleric satirically represent two different types of people in Chaucer's society.
The Pardoner's position in the Church is to collect indulgences, that is money "donated" to the church to "forgive" sin. However, in Chaucer's presentation of the character shows him to be corrupt, greedy and guilty of simony. In his portrayal he accuses the Pardoner of being two-faced by saying, "he sew'd a holy relic on his cap; his wallet lay before him on his lap..." and also that "by his flatteries and prevarication made monkeys of the priest and congregation." Chaucer further makes vicious the Pardoner's character with the following lines:
"But best of all he sang an Offeratory,
For well he knew when that song was sung
He'd have to preach and tune his honey-tongue
And (well he could) win silver from the crowd.
That's why he sang so merrily and loud."
Simony and other misuses of ecclesiastical powers are major themes in Chaucer's work. Through the satirical illustrations of the Pardoner, the priests, the nun, the monk, the parson, and other characters, Chaucer makes [negative] political commentary on the issues of his time.
The Oxford Cleric is made fun of as well, but not to the degree of the Pardoner. The Cleric is said to "had found no preferment in the Church", indicating his lack of piety, but on the bright side, "he was too unworldly to make search for secular employment." And "whatever money from his friends he took he spent on learning or another book...", whereas the Pardoner took money from people for his own pleasure and in the Church's name.
Even though the Cleric may be just as "in-virtuous" as the Pardoner, I would argue that the Pardoner's sin is magnified greater due to it's ecclesiastical corruption. The comparison of these character's, and others, demonstrates Chaucer's dissatisfaction with the Church in his time.
