2. What seems to be Chaucers attitude toward the Church? Is he anti-religion? Give examples to support your answer.Chaucer did use several characters in the Canterbury Tales to illustrate the flaws within the Church, that at first glance you'd think he was anti-religion. He, however, made a perfect point of using the Parson as his example of how a priest or members of the clergy should act.
Chaucer was against hypocrisy and exploitation among the clergy. In contrast to his other characters which simply display the flawed Church, the Parson reveals that Chaucer actually believes that religion, and thus Christian spirituality, brings with it a certain significance and value. The Parson would show that Chaucer was only speaking out against the abuses of the clergy, not the Church itself.4. Who is the Wife of Bath? What is her profession, and how does she feel about marriage?The Wife of Bath is the bawdy Alisoun.
She's a weaver. She has been married five times and has had a number of companions when she was younger. That being said, it is safe to say that she has a carefree attitude towards marriage, that the woes of marriage are inflicted upon women, and that virginity and chastity is not important to a marriage. Alisoun rebels against male dominance, but at the same time thinks that women are like commodities. Marriage for her is just a means of securing financial security and other things in life in exchange for sexual pleasure.
In return, being married gives her the sense of power.5. Why is it considered wrong to marry more than once? What are some of the arguments the Wife of Bath makes in favor of multiple marriages? The Wife of Bath says that someone told her that the Lord will never go to wedding, except once, which can be loosely analyzed as meaning that no other than the first (and only) marriage will be blessed by the Lord or the Church.By downplaying the importance chastity and virginity, the Wife of Bath had paved the defense for multiple marriages.
In fact, she says that she's only adhering to the Christian adage "be fruitful and multiply" and saying that our genitals should be used for sex, as intended. In effect, she uses the Bible's silence on sexuality, and even examples from it, to justify her position like citing Solomon's polygamous marriages. Deeper into her psyche, she says that the marriages has afforded the chance to use her sexuality to gain her dominance over her husbands so she could get some of the finer things in life.6.
How many husbands has the Wife of Bath had?She's been married 5 times. Three were good ones--kind rich and old. The other two were younger men.7. How did she treat the old, rich men who were her husbands?She would manipulate them to get them to offer her riches. She would also play on their guilt and jealousy, and she would use her sexuality to get what she wants by witholding it from these men.
8. Describe her last husband. How did he treat her, and what was her attitude towards him?Her last husband was the most cruel to her, being the male version of the lady in the street and freak in the bed. He was mostly violent, and was half of the Wife of Bath's age.
She gave him everything. The husband was chauvinistic and never let the Wife have her own way. He would read passages from the Bible about women and wives that denigrated women in general, saying that they should be submissive to the husband. The Wife tore that page out and he struck her so hard she lost consciousness and was presumed dead.Her last husband reinforced the Wife's need for control, using his guilt to gain control over him. When the Wife came to, the husband was so guilty over what he had done that he gave over all the rights of the marriage to the Wife.In the end, the Wife looked kindly to him since he gave her what she had always wanted in a marriage, and now she can stop being manipulative and still get what she wants.
