ENG 311 Final Paper Prospectus

For my final paper, I plan to explore Geoffrey Chaucer's “The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale” to determine if his creation of the wife's character ultimately colors him as a misogynist or a feminist. While reading the tale, as a modern woman, I think his voice to be liberating for women of the era, although I know that the story was interpreted as comedic by Chaucer's audience. Chaucer was aware of the historical patriarchal constraints on women, but also of another sort of woman who was emerging thanks the Roman Catholic Church's emphasis on the importance of marriage. Some women were making a career out of wifehood – a vice the Wife of Bath has no qualms bragging about. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is a satire, after all. This leads me to believe that Chaucer would have intended for his work to be read as more feminist than misogynist, although he knew that his misogynist audience would read it otherwise.

The voice of the tale is unmistakably masculine, a product of the male author's pen and also of a world where language for women hardly existed. Writing by women was rare in Chaucer's era, and he had to create a language to use for his Wife. It is to be expected that her language should be as masculine as the Miller's, because her words are being constructed by a man. Chaucer's weakness – that he is not female – haunts him as he is touted as a misogynist for his creation of the head-strong Wife of Bath.

Just as the Wife of Bath uses scripture to justify her actions, I, too, plan on referring to a religious text, “Genesis A” of the Anglo-Saxon Junius XI manuscript, to defend my argument. I will focus on the words the devil uses to tempt Eve into coercing Adam into eating from the Tree of Life: “Thou mayest rule the heart of Adam.” Eve ultimately gives in to the devil because she desires to have complete sovereignty over her husband, just as the Wife of Bath desires. Because holy scripture calls for a man to have dominion over his wife, woman is bound to desire equality at some point or another. Chaucer's tale is a satire on the oldest story told: the Fall of Man wrought by woman's weakness. However, woman deserves pity when one realizes she is only weak because she desires to reign in her husband's heart just as he reigns in her's.

With the use of the following journal articles, I plan to analyze “The Wife of Bath's Tale and Prologue” through a societal and cultural lens, discussing the impact of religion and the institution of marriage on Medieval women. I will ultimately argue that Chaucer's piece should be read as a feminist work that was well ahead of it's time. After all, it is not uncommon for the author to be referred to as the father of modern English literature.

Annotated Bibliography

Butler, Sara. “Runaway Wives: Husband Desertion in Medieval England.” Journal of Social History 40.2 (2006): 337-359.
This article details the phenomenon of women marrying – and then deserting – their husbands during Medieval England. Benedictine orders from the church emphasized marriage, and women who had once been in abusive male-dominated relationships were leaving their husbands, taking half of the man's assets with them. This article highlights women like the Wife of Bath who made a career out of marriage, explaining their societal reasons for doing so.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.” Canterbury Tales. New York: Covici Friede Inc., 1934. 311-344.
“The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale” will be the primary focus of my paper. I will use quotations within the text to analyze the character of the Wife, and will aim to prove Chaucer a feminist based on this piece of literature.

Cox, Catherine S. "Holy Erotica and the Virgin Word: Promiscuous Glossing in the Wife of Bath's Prologue." Exemplaria: A Journal of Theory in Medieval and Renaissance Studies 5.1 (1993): 207-237. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 28 Oct. 2009.
This article discusses the language of “The Wife of Bath's Prologue,” pointing out that the Wife could never truly speak with a woman's voice because she has been constructed in a man's world. It also focuses on the topic of “glossing” a text, as Cox claims Chaucer has done with the prologue, inserting overtly masculine vocabulary for a purpose. This argument takes on another layer as the Wife herself speaks about glossing while relaying her own glossed version of scripture.

Cubitt, Catherine. “Virginity and Misogyny in Tenth- and Eleventh-Century England.” Gender and History 12.1 (2000): 1-32.
This article explains how women were affected by Benedictine orders that stressed marriage over sexual deviance. Because many women feared being dominated by a man, they avoided marriage and instead chose chastity. Others, who had previously been subject to rape and abuse, found themselves protected under the orders. Just as the Wife of Bath does, the article discusses a married woman's sexual obligation to her husband.

Cullinan, Colleen Carpenter. “In Pain and Sorrow: Childbirth, Incarnation, and the Suffering of Women.” Cross Currents 58.1 (2008): 95-107.
Cullinan's article details the pain of childbearing and society's acceptance of this pain as a natural part of a woman's reproductive right. Using religious discourse, she explains how, since the Fall of Man, it has been culturally accepted that women should suffer. This article interests me because it helps explain the Wife's desire to have masculine equality and escape the constraints of womanhood.

Hansen, Elaine Tuttle. "The Wife of Bath and the Mark of Adam." Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 15.4 (1988): 399-416.
This article discusses the Wife's use of language and her knowledge about Biblical texts, which would have been uncharacteristic for a woman of her time. This knowledge unmistakably paints her voice as masculine, Hansen argues.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. “Writing about – and around – medieval women.” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 29.3 (1993): 214-218.
This article is a review of five books on the topic of “the experiences of medieval women,” however, the reviewer claims that sources on the subject were profoundly limited. Karras states that most of the books she could locate on the topic of medieval women were primarily concerned with misogyny and the male-dominance of said women. Therefore, there is no justifiable voice for women of the era to be referenced. “The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale,” although written by a man, are some of the era's only feminine voices to be found.

Killings, Douglas B., ed. “Genesis A.” Codex Junius XI. Project Gutenberg, 1996.
I will refer to this section of the Anglo-Saxon manuscript to cite the devil's temptation of Eve. As he tries to influence her to talk Adam into eating from the Tree of Life, he says, “Thou mayest rule the heart of Adam.” I find it very interesting that the devil tempts the woman – defined as the weaker sex – with sovereignty over her husband. How ironic that Chaucer's Wife desires the same.

Morgan, Gerald. “Medieval Misogyny and Gawain's Outburst Against Women in 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.'” Modern Language Review 97.2 (2002): 265-279.
Morgan's article explores anti-feminist themes in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” and parallels them with Chaucer's Knight in Canterbury Tales. This article may be relevant to my discussion as it draws strong parallels between “The Wife of Bath's Tale” and the story of the knight on King Arthur's court who was found guilty of assaulting a maiden.

Nelson, Janet L. “Gender, Memory and Social Power.” Gender and History 12.3 (2000) 722-735.
This article explores the historical role of women in families, as well as their contribution to written literature. It also defines male dominance, explaining the historical and societal reasons a man desires to reign supreme over his family.

Rigby, S. H. “Misogynist versus Feminist Chaucer.” Chaucer in Context: Society, Allegory and Gender. Manchester University Press, 1996. 116-163. Rpt. in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 56. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. 116-163. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Ohio University. 28 Oct. 2009 .
This article discusses Chaucer's sexual politics in Canterbury Tales, and defines the ways that his work can be read as both misogynist and feminist in nature. Where I aim to determine Chaucer's intent, this article is more of a description of his characters and their sexual attributes.

Treharne, Elaine. “The Stereotype Confirmed? Chaucer's Wife of Bath.” Writing Gender and Genre in Medieval Literature: Approaches to Old and Middle English Texts. Ed. Elaine Treharne Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2002. 93-115. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 58. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 93-115. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Ohio University. 28 Oct. 2009 .
In this article, Treharne describes how Chaucer was capable of constructing man's most feared opponent – a domineering female. The author focuses on Chaucer's fine grasp of language to paint a satirical image of the society in which he lived.