In "The Knight's Tale" we get Emelye. Emelye is the representation of what every Medieval women wants to be (or at least should want to be). She has goddess like beauty and walks in gardens. Emelye also speaks very little in this tale. In fact the only time she does speak is when she prays to the goddess Diane. In this prayer and sacrifice she also exhibits the traits of what a Medieval woman should be; she prays "As send me him that moist desireth me.\ Bihoold, goddesses of clone chastitee,\ The bittre teeres that on my cheeks falle!\ Sin thow art maide and kepere of us alle,\ My maidenhode thow kepe and we'll conserve,\ And whil I live, a maide I wol thee serve. (Ll. 2325-2330). Emelye reveals two important things for the time her lack of choice and her chastity. Emelye leaves the choice of man she is left with in the end, up to that man. It is the man that loves her the most that gets her; her feelings do not really matter. Also, Emelye keeps her virginity, ultimately for Palamoun.
On we go to "The Miller's Tale". In this tale we get a young bride who is married to a carpenter. Physically, she is a beautiful woman. Alisoun would not be an example of what medieval women should be. She is more like the example of a medieval wife that everyone knows exist and talk about behind closed doors. Alisoun is flirty, wild and unfaithful; but she is married. Being married for a woman during the medieval times seems to be the honorable thing. By the end of "The miller's Tale" we come to realize that a woman like Alisoun does not really win. She is left with a husband that everyone thinks is crazy. At the same time she does not really lose either because her true intentions and actions are never revealed.
The dynamic of the next two tales are very different than the former two. In "The Reeve's Tale" we get two women, a mother and wife as well as her daughter. These women represent a whole different idea a part from the idea of chivalry we had been previously presented with. I believe their role aids the story in advancing the point the Reeve is trying to get across. Who they are and what they do are only important by being a cause not an effect.
The incomplete "Cook's Tale" the woman is even less important. It is here that I stumble as to what the importance of a married prostitute plays in this story. I do think it is important to note that she is important. This further shows the importance marriage is during medieval times.
The dynamic of the next two tales are very different than the former two. In "The Reeve's Tale" we get two women, a mother and wife as well as her daughter. These women represent a whole different idea a part from the idea of chivalry we had been previously presented with. I believe their role aids the story in advancing the point the Reeve is trying to get across. Who they are and what they do are only important by being a cause not an effect.
The incomplete "Cook's Tale" the woman is even less important. It is here that I stumble as to what the importance of a married prostitute plays in this story. I do think it is important to note that she is important. This further shows the importance marriage is during medieval times.
I think your points about marriage and women being objects in stories (not actors in their own right but signifiers) are spot on. I hadn't thought about it, but no matter how crude the story, it does seem to value marriage. Which I choose to look at as hopeful. I wonder about Venus. She is a female character that has some power, as compared to Diane. I also think Alisoun has some power, in that she is able to choose a suitor. I do agree that there are some bad implicit assumptions about women's roles.
ReplyDeleteThese are things I think about to be more hopeful. Maybe then, as it is now, stories about healthy happy relationships were boring. Think about how many romantic TV shows die once a healthy relationship is created. Also, I wonder about the women's worlds. There were areas men had no access to--women together working, noble women together, women in the abbeys. We don't know what these women were saying to each other. We only know what men saw. Which means if women found ways to exercise power or influence over men that the men didn't pick up on, those strengths weren't reflected in the literature. I don't know if you ever saw MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, but although the father thinks he's the head of the household, in reality he isn't.
You ask good questions, Yasmin.
Don't you think that part of the reason that Marriage is valued in the story is that it's how people would've made more people, at least in a recognized way, and eventually becomes a sacrament in the church? Furthermore, isn't it the main job of a woman to get married, so she can become the best wife possible?
DeleteWhat do you think?
I do think the lack of female work during the time creates a sort of biased look at the way women were treated during the time. But, to me its clear that this were the feelings of men. I don't think they are completly pointless, matterfact I think they are very important at pushing the stories along. And they have great affects on the men.
DeleteJonathan: What you bring up is very interesting. I do think that marriage has the strong value because of the necessity to create more people as well as form alliances within classes. I do see marriage being the job of a woman but there lies my problem. Why is marriage the main expectation for a women.
Woops, I meant Yasmine.
ReplyDeleteThis analysis becomes more interesting as we take a look at "The Man of Law's Tale."
ReplyDeleteThink about the parallels between the women of all the tales we have read thus far.
Then, take a look at my post regarding Custance and her monsters-in-law.
I do agree that all female characters serve a purpose in Chaucer's work. His purposes may range from either commenting on the male and female roles and conditions of the time to simply entaining his readership. With this in mind, what do you make of the most recent female character, the fiesty old women in the Friar's Tale?
ReplyDeleteNow that we finish The Canterbury Tales we have seen many women, and they have all played an important role like the martyr, the dominant, virtuous. It has definitely been interesting to see that the ideas I have about medieval gender roles are somewhat different from what they really were, and how each story made a statement of how a woman should behave.
ReplyDelete