Top 10 Wife of Bath Quotes

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  • Created by: Rjones9
  • Created on: 04-06-14 13:14
'Experience, though noon auctoritee Were in this world, is right ynogh for me To speke of wo that is in marriage'
Chaucer makes wife a rebel (challenging accepted conventions +expectations of the period and her sex). Places them in her mouth to form wider argument about issues that run through the tales- morality,correct behaviour, marriage and attitudes.
1 of 10
'An housbonde I wol have, I wol nat lette, Which shall be bothe my dettour and my thrall'
Wife's belief in female dominance. Wife states extreme position, keeping with nature of her character and the purpose Chaucer created her.
2 of 10
'Deceite, weeping, spinning God hath yive To wommen kindely, whil that they may live'
Wife takes anti-feminist proverb and quotes it approvingly. Audience's response should be complex. Detect unfairness of original assertion, they should note the irony the wife boasts of a quality like deceitfulness that either sex would condemn.
3 of 10
'For trusteth wel, it is an impossible That any clerk wol speke good of wives, But if it be of hooly seintes lives'
Refers to ani-fem nature of religious lit aoart from lives of saints. Pointing to central feature of medieval Cath. Wom universally condemned because they shared Eve's guilt. An ambivalence in atts to women which wife notes.
4 of 10
'And whan that I hadde geten unto me, By maistrie, al the soverainetee'
Uses key words 'maistrie' + 'soverainetee' to describe power she attains over 5th husband. Logical culmination of intention she expressed in line 154-55 + at the centre of all she intends to express through her prol + tale.
5 of 10
'He saugh a maide walkinge him biforn, Of which maide anon, maugree his heed, By verray force, he rafte hire maidenhead'
Prol + tale are about struggle for 'maistrie'. Knight expresses extreme form of male mastery through ****; wife's intention to show process by which he humiliated and humbled, he can only find happiness once he has ceded absol control to a woman.
6 of 10
'Women desiren to have sovereinetee As well over his housbond as hir love, And for to been in maistrie him above'
Central theme in prol + tale and repeats 'sovereinetee' and 'maistrie'. Chaucer achieves a structural and thematic parallel in prologue and tale which are aesthetically satisfying and critical in reinforcing wife's views.
7 of 10
'For gentillesse cometh fro God allone'
Only place in prol + tale where there is an insistence on important of virtue + recognition that it is God-given. Places the wife's belief in context + shows how Chaucer is willing to step outside her characterisation to make a point.
8 of 10
'I put me in youre wise governance'
Final example + vindication of her views. Couple can only be happy when wife has total dominance over her husband. Inclusion of the word 'wise' is neat, provokes the audience to consider + perhaps argue over how far it is apt.
9 of 10
'And eek I praye Jhesu shorte hir lives That wol nat be governed by hir wives'
Beautifully judged finale. Doubtless heart-felt from the wife, but Chaucer invites us to explore the potet blasphemy of such a prayer. In keeping with opening assertion lines 1-3, + forms an equal challenge to the patriarchal stance of medieval Chur
10 of 10

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Wife's belief in female dominance. Wife states extreme position, keeping with nature of her character and the purpose Chaucer created her.

Back

'An housbonde I wol have, I wol nat lette, Which shall be bothe my dettour and my thrall'

Card 3

Front

Wife takes anti-feminist proverb and quotes it approvingly. Audience's response should be complex. Detect unfairness of original assertion, they should note the irony the wife boasts of a quality like deceitfulness that either sex would condemn.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Refers to ani-fem nature of religious lit aoart from lives of saints. Pointing to central feature of medieval Cath. Wom universally condemned because they shared Eve's guilt. An ambivalence in atts to women which wife notes.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Uses key words 'maistrie' + 'soverainetee' to describe power she attains over 5th husband. Logical culmination of intention she expressed in line 154-55 + at the centre of all she intends to express through her prol + tale.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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