Monday, June 6, 2011

What solutions for marriage troubles can be found in the tales of The Miller and the Wife of Bath?

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is definitely a commentary on Medieval life and a satire of the duality of people--especially those in the church who were expected to behave one way but more often than not behaved quite the opposite way.


In the case of "The Wife of Bath's Tale" and "The Miller's Tale" we have excellent examples of Medieval humor and wit.  Both tales deal to some extent with marriage, but not so much with solutions to the problems presented.  The Wife tells a tale about a Knight who is forced to marry an old hag who helped him answer the question, "What do women want most?" Once he gives in and decides to treat her with respect and as an equal (the motto of the worthy Wife of Bath, by the way) the hag disappears and becomes a beautiful, faithful wife.  So, in essence, the answer to marital problems according to the Wife is to treat the female as an equal in the marriage--give her the respect she deserves and allow her to make decisions.  Problems solved.


The Miller is a different story altogether.  The "problem" in the marriage in this story is that the wife lusted after someone else, and she was lucky her husband was gullible and witless so she could pursue her lover.  Rather than celebrating marriage and working on solving issues between men and women, this tale celebrates opportunity, appetite, youth, and cleverness.   There is no real solution to the problem of adultery offered in this tale. 

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