Reading Response:The Wife of Bath, The Wife of Bath Prologue, and The General Prologue

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IB English 2

October 19.2004

Reading Response:  

The Wife of Bath, The Wife of Bath Prologue, and The General Prologue

By Geoffrey Chaucer

        These selections from The Canterbury Tales best exemplify the ideals and traits of women (as portrayed by Chaucer).  In, The Wife of Bath Prologue, the narrator brags of her sexual exploits as well as her prowess of controlling men.  The narrator is quite forthright in her enjoyment of this manipulation; she comments on her technique of lying and predomination of men.  The General Prologue further serves to display the daunting traits of women.  The narrator makes several stabs at a woman’s appearance; and the overall effect is one of distaste and inadequacy.  The tale itself, The Wife of Bath, embodies the characteristics of the two previous selections; by fermenting a character that is both cynical towards men and symbolizes superficiality.  

        The first selection, The General Prologue, offers the reader a glimpse into the theme and tone of the entire Tale.  In this segment of the story, the author appropriates the fabliau genre.  This style of composition relies on a bawdy, suggestive sense of comedy to communicate its message.  This is particularly effective towards the end lines, where the author includes, “Gap-toothed was she…An overskirt was tucked around her buttocks large, And her feet spurred sharply under that…The remedies of love she knew, perchance, For of that art she’d learned the old, old dance.”  This excerpt incorporates sly, cutting observations to lead the reader to its theme of wanton manipulation.  Throughout the selection, the author hints towards the “Wife of Bath’s” promiscuity and unbridled appearance.  He recounts the various locales she has “visited” to perform the “dance” of love; “Three times she’d traveled to Jerusalem; And many a foreign stream she’d had to stem; At Rome…In Spain…at Cologne…She could tell much of wandering by the way.”  This inclusion of various geographic landmarks serves to demonstrate the woman’s indiscriminating tastes; as well as her “sleeping-around” temperament.  The author also includes an amusing vignette of her appearance; “Her head-dresses were of finest weave and ground; I dare swear that they weighed a pound…Her stockings were of the finest scarlet red…her face…and red of hue.”  This humorous tone exemplifies the promiscuous nature of the woman.  The attachment of the color red especially highlights this; as it conveys a seductive and tantalizing demeanor.  The overall effect of these items allows the reader to form an image of the woman; that she is a person of low morals and status.  Her life is comprised of appealing and manipulating the hearts of men.

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        The additional prologue, The Wife of Bath Prologue, is both lengthy and abound with persuasion.  This particular division of the Tale offers a glimpse into the mind of the Wife.  In it, she portrays herself as a proud woman, which has used her innumerable supply of husbands as vessels of mere social and financial support.  The performance that she displays showcases her uncaring nature as well as her experience.  The selection utilizes exemplum to properly impart this experience.  This form is a short story which is embedded into a longer sermon to make a point.  The selection is in fact a short ...

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