Analysis of The Wife of Bath

I knew I would be fascinated with the wife of bath before I even read the reading. I am very interested in how men depict female characters in their work and the way Chaucer characterizes the wife of bath is strange for a man of his time. She is sexually independent and finds confidence in her sexual power over men. I feel like this would be very threatening to most men of the time. She disputes the men's interpretation of the bible and the belief that women should remain "virgins" by stating that some old testament figures had many wives. I wonder if her feelings on sexual power and control are based on the experience of being married at 12 (when she married her first husband). Her first husband was probably far older than she was and her father most likely forced her into the union. Perhaps her views on sexual power in her adulthood are a result of the trauma she experienced as a child. Did Chaucer actually think about women that much?

While Chaucer gives her the depth and humanity of having opinions that differ from the men’s and her own sexual freedom he also demonizes her for it. She is characterized as an abusive wife who manipulates her husbands into giving her money by holding out on them sexually. In this time period I doubt that women were allowed to have much of their own money so I personally see her as intelligent for doing this. She is written as manipulative and cunning. This is a view of women many men adopt when they are threatened by them. When women are not submissive they are portrayed as “cruel manipulators of men”.

The Wife of Bath seems to be a foil to the Prioress who is characterized as compassionate and dainty.I am interested in how these characters will interact and develop as the story continues. My general thoughts on the Canterbury Tales thus far are: I’m really bad at reading middle english. I hope this gets easier as the readings continue, but I have found I am very reliant on the translations. Does anyone have any tips they could comment? How are you all enjoying the reading so far? Do you have a favorite character yet? Mine is definitely the Wife of Bath. I did not think I would see such a sexually powerful women character! I remember when we read Canterbury Tales in highschool we skipped the part that described her (I went to a very small catholic high school and any mention of virginity not being necessary was not allowed, even in english class.)

A Myriad of Characters

So…how has the reading been going for everyone? (Everyone: groan.) I've actually found a trick to better get through the reading. Actually, I'm not sure how much of a trick it is, as it is fairly self-explanatory, but still, ,maybe it will help you.

The trick is to “block out” your need (and face it, English majors, by now it is a compulsive need) to see correctly spelled words. As you read, sound each word out, like you would when you first learned to read.

When you first (and by “you,” I also mean “me”) glanced at these lines:

“With hym ther was his sone, a yong squier,

A lovyere and a lusty bacheler”

You probably thought (or at least I thought):

With…hymn?...was his…a…squire?

A…and a lusty…bachelor?”

But upon looking at it again, and sounding each word at as you go, you can see that the words are quite similar, if not the same as our words, only spelled differently:

“With him there was his son, a young squire,

A lover and a lusty bachelor.”

Pretty straight-forward, and though we might not word it quite that way when speaking plain English (keep in mind this is poetry), we understand that it's basically saying:

“His son was with him, who was a young squire. He was looking for a lady.”

I believe that we have been taught structure in writing for so long growing up that we often have to unlearn habits in order to understand artful literature.

Anyway…time for my favorite meme:

So I will.

In the beginning of The Canterbury Tales, it seems as though everyone is introduced in the fashion of an Agatha Christie story. (I'll post a picture.) The characters are introduced one by one, often a caricature of a normal person. We are made aware of their appearances and personality traits, which help us predict what is yet to come (and what to expect from each character) . However, instead of the mystery being that of murder, the mystery is the stories the characters have yet to tell.

I'm wondering, what characters stood out to you? The ones who stood out to me were the Prioress and The Wife of Bath.

The Prioress seemed lovely to me and absolutely lovely in every way. She reminded me of none other than:

The Wide of Bath, while an equally interesting character (her ability to see reminded me of my grandmother) made a very different image come to mind (much unlike my grandmother):

And what about that Summoner, who tries people for infidels and yet has the skill of seducing many women? Hypocritical much!

What did you think in general? Who did you like? Dislike? Who was the best?

Leaders

You are either a leader or a follower. There are people who seem to be the leader of the leaders. That class president and number one jock that shows you up at everything, who the entire school loves. But out of all the class presidents only a few go on to be real leaders. It is a very special person who can convince people to follow them. One thing I think pretty much everyone can agree on is they have to be fair and just, another one that comes to mind, is kindness. Confidence, self awareness, adaptability, empathy, bravery, honor, and intelligence seem to be some of the main ones as well. What other qualities would you expect of your leader?
                                                     
I would say that these qualities are expected in most leaders, past and present. Would you agree? Beowulf is described as a good leader. He seems to be fair and just from what we are given and he doesn’t show any blatant cruelty. The way he jumps into situations shows that he can adapt to different situations and that he is very confident in himself and he displays a kind of intelligence. He shows his honor when he tries to make his fights fair.

       Empathy, bravery, and self awareness seem to be harder to see in Beowulf. Though he is fair, he doesn’t seem to be empathetic. I see this mostly when he faces Grendal as well as when he marches out to fight the dragon. Beowulf seems to be constructed to be the poster child of bravery but is he
                                                        
actually brave? He doesn't overcome anything. He doesn’t seem to be afraid at all. So is he really brave? Self awareness seems to be the one that ends up being his downfall. He can not see how much his own pride is affecting him, especially when it is the cause of his death when he goes up against the dragon.
                  Can Beowulf really be seen as a “good leader” despite his flaws?

Heroes or Zeros?

I was never really into superheroes as a child. Yeah, I saw "Hercules" a few times growing up, but it was not a movie that was I obsessed with or anything. In fact, it was one of my least favorite Disney movies. As a kid, I could not really pinpoint why I did not like Hercules very much. Now that I am older, and especially since I just read "Beowulf", I am kind of starting to see why I had a problem with it. These two guys, Hercules and Beowulf, their characters are so....unattainable.
Hercules made it look so easy to go from the scrawny little guy to this buff Greek demigod. Beowulf swam for seven days in armor without taking a breathe. That is crazy! I can understand why people like the larger-than-life figures. Beowulf was loved by his people and his story has lasted hundreds of years. Hercules, well, this song can explain how famous he got better than I can!

I think one of the biggest issues that I have with these two characters is their arrogance. Hercules thinks that just because he has beaten off all of these villains and he has his own action figure that he deserves a place on Mount Olympus. Beowulf, while he does not think he is a god, he is very proud. He tries to slay a dragon by himself in his very old age. Now what about that sounds like a good idea?
I think the one time I was really able to sympathize with Beowulf was when he was losing and Wiglaf had to come to his aide. That had to be a really big reality check for him because he was able to get by on his own for most of his life. It was such a human moment for Beowulf. Granted, it came really late in the story, but it was still a very interesting moment. For me, Beowulf was one of those stories that I enjoyed reading, but I have a hard time pinpointing a character that I actually like. It is kind of conflicting to feel this way!
Now, I am not completely a cynic when it comes to superheroes. While I do think that many of them tend to have overinflated egos, I think there is a lot of good that comes out of them. Not the good deeds that they go around doing in the comic books, I'm talking about the good things that happen as a result of them in everyday life. Stories like "Beowulf" and "Hercules" can provide people with an escape, all stories like this can. There are a lot of crappy things that happen in the world, the news makes a point to remind us every day. Superheroes serve as a reminder that there are good people and it can be very comforting. Look at that guy who went around to hospitals dressed as Batman in order to cheer up sick children. Stuff like that makes me really happy that we have superheroes in the world. Like Phil says to Hercules "To be a true hero, kid, is a dying art/ Like painting a masterpiece, it's a work of heart". Anyway, these are just my thoughts.    

Beowulf, Hercules, and More Heroes

Go Team Satire! And I don't mean that in a satirical way, I mean it (oh, the corniness). Before I begin with the main topic of my blog, I'd like to give a little backstory as to what Beowulf means to me. This isn't necessarily a diary, I know, but if we are all to know each other well...to know this is to better know me.

My grandfather was called Papa. No, not Pah-Pah like in fairy tales, Pah-Pah! (With the exclamation point.)
Imagine a group of mobsters greeting their father over a dinner feast. That's the kind of Pah-Pah! he wanted to be.
Papa loved stories, and he knew them all. Every constellation was a story of an adventure yet to be told, every dusty old book a doorway to the past just waiting to be opened. And he opened them for me! He gave me my first copy of Beowulf when I was ten. It was a worn old thing, but I loved it. I never read it and he knew it (because let's be real, I couldn't comprehend that particular edition now) so he told it to me.
He told me his version of Beowulf...
which means I know nothing abut what actually happened.
But I know some version, that is half-true and half made-up by him.
Papa passed away this past summer. He was my best friend,
But I'll always have in my heart the best version of Beowulf EVER.

I suppose you're wanting me to "get on with it!" Goodness I love Monty Python (so I will post a segment from one of their movies to cheer up this vibe a little).

Papa was, and IS, my hero. Like King Arthur, or maybe even Beowulf, he is gone but forever here. Papa had his own qualities that made him my hero, as did Beowulf for other people. Let's look at a few of Beowulf's qualities that made him admirable to the readers of the time (I just realized I'm assuming that Beowulf is nobody's hero anymore. Maybe he's yours. If so, comment! Anyway...getting ON with it):

Beowulf is...
Brave
Charismatic
Impressive to look at
Quick on his feet
Has...super-human powers?

Did you catch anything else?
It's interesting to me that Beowulf isn't just, well...a piece of meat. He isn't like Hercules in the ancient Greek legend, who is actually described as the equivalent of a dumb jock, and was actually a pawn during Hera's vengeful wrath.

Oh...Hercules. How you fall for things.

Beowulf is charismatic, he is cunning, and overall, he seems fairly intelligent. Do you think this is significant? Do you think this says something about the culture of the time? Does it make you like Beowulf more?

...Do you like Beowulf as a person at all?
Let me know what you think! And of course, happy reading!