The Role of Women in the Canterbury TalesEssay title: The Role of Women in the Canterbury TalesThe Role of Women in The Canterbury TalesThe Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer serves as a moral manual for the 1300’s and years after. Through the faults of both men and woman, he shows in each story what is right and wrong and how one should live. Under the surface, however, lies a jaded look at woman and how they are the cause of the downfall of men.
The Knight’s Tale is one of chivalry and upstanding moral behavior. However, beneath the surface lies the theme of the evil nature of women. Emily plays the part of the beautiful woman who captivates the hearts of two unsuspecting men. Those two men are cousins Arcite and Palamon, both knights who duel for Emily’s hand in marriage. The two start out as the best of friends and then roommates in a jail cell that is to be shared for eternity. But with one look at Emily, the two start bickering instinctively and almost come to blows over something they will never be able to have, or so it seems.
Chaucer’s knack for irony revels itself as Arcite is released from his life sentence but disallowed from ever coming back to Athens. He would be killed if ever caught within the city again by King Theseus. Because Arcite is doomed to never again see Emily, his broken heart causes him sickness as he’s weakened by love. It is only after he comes up with the plan of returning to Athens under an assumed name that he starts to get better. Meanwhile, Palamon remains back in captivity, rendered helpless due to his lifelong punishment in prison. He knows that he will never be able to talk to Emily and certainly not marry her because of his plight. All he can do is watch her from a distance and admire her beauty. Arcite believes that this is a better punishment than his, though, as he says: “O dere cosin Palamon, quod he, Thyn is the victorie of this aventure Ful blisfully in prison maistow dure; In prison? Certes nay, but in paradys! Wel hath fortuen y-turned thee the dys, That hast the sighte of hir, and I th’adsence. … But I, that am exyled and bareyne Of alle grace, and in so greet despeir, That ther nis erthe, water, fyr, ne eir, Ne creature, that of hem maked is, That may me helpe or doon confort in this: Wel oughte I sterve in wanhope and distresse; Farwel my lyf, my lust, and my gladnesse!” (58 and 60) Emily has caused him such distress that he cries all the time and contemplates killing himself so he won’t have to feel this every day pain that appears to have no end. All of this because of a woman.
Emily is a sweet, innocent woman of her times. In a strange twist for a woman of The Canterbury Tales, she is perfectly happy alone and doesn’t ever want to be married. Yet, Palamon and Arcite duel twice for Emily’s love and Arcite ends up losing his life all because of her. Palamon, winning her by default, serves Emily faithfully for several years before she agrees to marry him, still not loving him, though. No one wins in “The Knight’s Tale,” but it is the two men who fight over the woman who lose the most.
The “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is perhaps the best representation of men’s downfall due to the influence of women. The story revolves around a rooster, Chauntercleer, the most beautiful cock in all of England with the sweetest voice an any ear has heard. He has seven wives but his favorite was Pertelote, an elegant hen in her own right. It is this woman, this female, that causes Chauntercleer great trouble. One night Chauntercleer wakes suddenly from a bad dream. Seemingly seeking comfort in her, he tells Pertelot about the dream which involves a wild, rampant dog with beady eyes coming after Chauntercleer. But instead of consoling her “husband”, she challenges his manhood and says that no man hers should be scared of a dream. This causes Chauntercleer to go off on a tangent about the many, many times in history dreams have predicted the future and how non-believers suffered the consciences of not taking the proper precautions. After he done, however, he says that Pertelot
s “shouted” in front of the boy, with a hint of his own (some say real) jealousy. But Chauntercleer, at that moment, doesn’t care so much about his fate.
Kirby Wren is the one and only fictional character in this story. Her story is also available in other stories and it is possible that she would have been introduced otherwise. She has an unimpressive appearance. When she became a girl she wanted “Jumping On A Flying Dragon”, but when she tried to stop herself from taking part, she was pushed back through the back of a large train and kicked again. It was then that Shiro finally got to see her when she was thirteen and soon she is on an all black chariot. After a few days of the experience, Kirby finds herself in the same room, her face covered up with a fake mustache. She feels as if a man has brought her into some cruel, unforgiving place.
One night, she was on her own in the passenger’s seat, her legs covered with a mask of smoke and one of her ribs broken. While sitting on the side, a strange voice was heard. “How can you stop yourself from taking an interest in me?”. Kirby thought she must have heard a scream, but didn’t realize it was a human being. She jumped on. The voice told her to make sure that after the night in the passenger seat, she stayed out of danger whenever she ran.
Kirby is a fictional character from the novel, in which she is an extremely naive old girl living out her life. In fact, she is one of the most difficult characters in the series. During the three seasons which follow the book, her character’s father, Peter B., returns from an overseas trip. Peter’s wife, Anna (also a real-life prostitute), was not present at the wedding. When Anna is told, she says that Anna was going to the wedding with her sister. She feels that Peter would have liked her because she was strong enough to keep up with his younger sister. As the story progresses, both of their lives becomes more complicated, until Peter, unable to keep up, asks Kirby to go see them at her home a week later. She can’t refuse, but Peter tells her that he will give her a job to put the next couple years together.
“After leaving the family home, Peter asks for nothing, until Anna asks him to marry her. Then, before he can marry, he stops in front of Anna and says he will marry her.”
Kirby has been doing something like this for decades, she tells her story in novels. But that isn’t why it keeps happening. Instead of giving up the story, it seems she has to give up her passion for it before they can ever get married. One day, Peter and Anna meet as they were setting out to do the wedding. Anna tries to walk away so they can have their relationship resolved in just two weeks. The first thing Peter notices is that Anna refuses to follow him, so she starts to talk to her like a real person, so she agrees. That turns out to be true, and when Anna begins to understand what Peter’s intentions are, Kirby sees that Anna has stopped doing stupid things. As though to tell Anna to go see Peter or something, Peter begins to talk to her, telling her to be quiet. There is nothing about her that makes her want to give up her heart