Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

1998

Thesis Director

David Raybin

Abstract

It has become a critical commonplace to note that Chaucer created the character of the Wife of Bath out of an anti-feminist textual tradition that condemns just the kind of strong-voiced proto-feminist woman that she is. The anti-feminist tradition is deeply embedded in the western cultural framework. Established and perpetuated by a male clergy, it was an integral part of the institutionalized religious structure that controlled education, literacy, and thus access to texts of all kinds. The tradition assumed that woman—viewed as a collective entity—was portrayed as either a moral ideal or a wicked sinner, with little possibility for nuances of human personality or individual expression. This tradition was so pervasive in its scope and breadth that it played a major role not only in determining how men viewed women, but also in determining how women—even rebellious women—viewed themselves.

The dual focus of this study is first to examine the articulation of Alison of Bath's character as it relates to the anti-feminist tradition and second to explore why Chaucer might have created a character such as Alison. It is the contention of this study that even though Alison can be viewed as a social type and a creation based on other anti-feminist literary texts, the presence of a character who is victimized by the textual tradition she attempts to refute makes a powerful statement that produces important questions about the validity of that tradition.

On the surface, the character of Alison appears to be created in opposition to authoritative texts because she speaks out so powerfully and directly against the idea of an absolute authority based on the sacred textual tradition. The problem is that in so doing Alison fulfills the stereotypical notions of the manipulative woman, thus upholding the misogynist traditions she seeks to control. Alison's use of textual language demonstrates her lowly status in relation to male textual tradition. Furthermore, the contradictions in Alison's character seem to point to the conclusion that Chaucer perceives the woman as an inferior being. Even the female-ness of Alison's character, Chaucer's apparent rendering of a feminine rhetoric, is based on a male textual tradition, that of the manipulative woman in secular literature and popular sermons.

Still, because Chaucer is not an author whose intent can be determined with ease, it becomes virtually impossible to perceive Alison simply as a regurgitation of the misogynist tradition. The idea that there is an absolute truth in the gender-based moral hierarchy manifested in authoritative texts is a premise that Chaucer questions. Alison's placement in The Canterbury Tales thus demonstrates Chaucer's awareness that the truth in textual authority is not absolute. The arguments given to the Wife of Bath also make her audience aware that there are many facets of the textual tradition that go against the grain of the church patriarchy and its value system.

Having examined Chaucer's creation of Alison's character, I close the thesis by discussing the textual forces that govern the interaction with Chaucer's literary work, in this case, the particularities of late-twentieth-century gender-related language. While the extent of Chaucer's feminist sympathies may never be fully known, an examination of responses to The Wife of Bath's Prologue brings us closer to an understanding of how literary critics use language and how it affects our understanding of a text. Critics' interactions with Chaucer's tale are revealed for their own highly personal and frequently gender-motivated agendas. Much in the same way that the Wife of Bath's character questions and exposes the personal motivations of those who use power to maintain control, literary criticism offers the reader a chance to examine critical contexts and the traditions of authoritative language for their personal motivations.

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