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CONTEXT- Chaucer general
-Late fourteenth-century English poet, seen as ‘Father of English Literature’
-He wanted poetry to be linguistically accessible to all, chose the vernacular English (not Latin or French)
CONTEXT- The Canterbury Tales
“Experience, though noon auctoritee, were in this world is right ynogh for me, to speke of wo that is in mariage”
Noun ‘experience’ encapsulates the drive behind the WoB’s behaviours and her view of the world
Subversion/juxtaposition of ‘experience’ with noun ‘auctoritee’ is a syntactical embodiment of the challenges of religious teachings towards women
Ironic, as she later goes on to use biblical exegesis to justify her position
Determiner ‘ynogh’ is indicative of the nature of her character as fulfilled and confident, as a result of her past experiences
Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath as his mouthpiece to create a dichotomy between 'experience' (which the wife claims to have an abundance of) and 'auctoritee' (which the Church had greatly) within his Medieval society
“Hir coverchiefs ful fyne weren of ground;/ I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound" (General Prologue, line 453)
Example of comic hyperbole by Chaucer. Exaggerating her over the top appearance, and therefore personality
Metaphor/ symbolism of the Wife’s bold character, use of semiotics
Could also be a metaphor of her experiences? Kerchiefs conceal around the head and face, reflective of the multi-layered nature of her characterisation
"Stilbourn I was as a lioness", (637) "for as an hors I koulde byte and whyne"
Use of animal imagery, subtle reference to male criticism “Who peyntede the leoun?'“.
The simile using the concrete noun “lioness” establishes the wife’s own perception of her ‘auctoritee’. Perhaps she surrenders her ‘femininity’ in order to gain more authority through zoomorphism
Typical Machiavellian attributes
“Lat hem be breed of pured whete-seed/ And lat us wyves hoten barly-breed/ And yet with barly-breed, Mark telle kan/ Oure Lord Jhesu refresshed many a man” (143)
Adjective “whete” is a subtle reference to virginity. The emphatic superlative “pured” is reflective of the glorification of purity in Catholicism
Use of allusion to Medieval society, where white bread was not available to the masses. Shows desirability and rareness of virgins
Further uses the metaphor of “Barly-breed“ to highlight the irony that it can be enjoyed by many
The use of comparative language between WoB and Jesus himself is a somewhat comedic biblical allusion
Thou hast yhad five housbondes,--quod he, And that ilke man that now hath thee (WoBT 17-18)
choice of concrete pronouns throughout the tale have emphasis… chaucer’s concrete pronoun choices are a subtle allusion to the wob’s subversion of social norms
