Literature & Desire
Week 4-6
1. Cite some variations in the Loathly Lady fabula across the three tales in your Reader. Focus on the conditions by which the lady is either beautiful or ugly, and the actions of the knight/king/"hero".
Throughout the Loathly lady fable tales, I was able to pick out the similarities between them. In Chaucer’s ‘The Wife of Bath’s tale’, the first we hear of the loathly lady is a knight who comes across what he says “no man can imagine an uglier creature”. Progressing further into the story and there is no deeper description on the lady, just that she is ugly, poor and old. In ‘The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle’ there is a lot more description on the loathly lady. However, this time it is no knight who comes across the lady, but in fact King Arthur who says that she is “the ugliest creature, red face, nose running, wide mouth, yellow teeth, broad cheeks as wide as woman’s hip, hair clotted in heaps”, just to name a few.
In Steeleye Span’s “King Arthur” song, they describe a lady as “Her head hit the roof-tree of the house, her middle you could not span. Each frightened huntsman fled the hall And left the king alone, Her teeth were like the tether stakes, Her nose like club or mell. And nothing less she seemed to be Than a fiend that comes form hell.”. The description of this lady all seems very similar if not the same to the loathly lady in Chaucer’s tale.
However, in both tales even though she is described to be the uglier creature of the land, she is still able to gain a husband by the end of the story. This is done by manipulation and threatening a persons fate.
2. The Wife of Bath's Tale is considered by some critics to indicate that Chaucer may have been a feminist. Why might they believe this? Do you agree? Remember to cite evidence from the text or some other source
I believe that this statement is unintentionally true. As these stories originate before a time where the term feminism was even considered, there is no way that Chaucer would have done so purposefully. Feminism emerged in the 1840’s-1850’s (Wikipedia, n.d) supporting my statement. However, in saying that I do see where people may have made some connections and assumptions as to why he may be considered a feminist.
It is very obvious that in the tales of the loathly lady, the knight is given the task to find the answer to the Queens question “what is it that women most desire?”. If he does not deliver correctly, then his fate may come to an end for committing the crime of rape. Therefore, leaving sovereignty in the Queens' hand, granting her power over the knight. As known the males held most if not all the power in society leaving the women to have little opportunity for independence (Kent, J.L. 2017). As King Arthur allowed the Queen to decide his fate, I think that this may have sparked the feminism thought in peoples minds, along with the agreement that rape is considered deeply wrong.
In the Wife of Baths Tale, the loathly lady gives her husband the decision to choose between her being young and attractive, but also having the attention of everyone else, or she can remain old and ugly, but be the most honest and pure wife to him. The Knight allows the lady to choose for herself, ultimately giving her the freedom to choose what she desires which in return she says she will be young and beautiful, but also a true wife to her knight. Again not very common for the woman to make decisions within that time period, allowing more equality between the two reasoning in why Chaucer may be considered a feminist.
References:
Kent, J.L. (2017) Women in Medieval Times. Retrieved April 4, 2019. From https://static.nbclearn.com/files/nbcarchives/site/pdf/110965.pdf
Wikipedia (n.d) Histroy of Feminism. Retrieved April 4, 2019. From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_feminism
For your first answer, I really like that you pointed out that their behaviour was considered as wicked as their outward appearance - it reminds me of how witches were treated in classical fairy/folktales!
ReplyDeleteIn your second answer, I both agree and disagree - it’s really hard to pinpoint for Wife of Bath’s Tale, which is why I didn’t answer this question. I agree that Chaucer places women in a position of authority and power (as seen in the Queen) and that by doing so challenges his period’s thoughts on women as inferior, but it was my understanding that the queen and her ladies had to ask for this power/authority - which, to me, though appropriate for the time period, is not characteristically feminist. Your second example of the loathly lady being given sovereignty aligns better with the idea of Chaucer as a proto-feminist as that part of the tale is a real turning point and the obvious lesson of the story. I still really dislike that the women in power (queen/ladies) chose to give the knight a chance to save his life considering the pain and abuse he inflicted on another woman. His horror at having to marry - and consummate said marriage - is comical considering his crime but it was disheartening to realise that he would be rewarded with a beautiful and good wife simply because he allowed her to make a decision.
Keep up the great work!
For the first part, I really like how you pointed different variartions between two sonnects. What i really loved how you personally thought about the different situations.
ReplyDeleteQuestion- "This is done by manipulation and threatening a persons fate" - you got a quote for that or your personal statement.
Second question -
I loved how you compared why you personally believe if he was a feminist. I love the most when you compare with his tales and his thoughts. When I Blogged about this, I thought that maybe a feminist because on what he wrote and how he actually lived with a pack of females but to continue, his stories had some meanings but at the same time, maybe he just liked writing about females.