The Wife Of Bath And King Lear - 843 Words

Gender roles have been defining women for centuries, however the women in both The Wife of Bath and King Lear violate just about every gender role of their time. The wife of Bath, Cordelia, Regan, and Goneril are all unapologetic head-strong, independent, powerful women. These women totally contrasted their literary peers of their time who were relatively submissive and docile, such as Queen Wealhtheow from Beowulf and Bertilak’s wife from Gawain and the Green Knight. The Wife of Bath herself follows no gender rules or roles, she believes she is owed the same rights as any man. She married like a man would and used her husbands to better herself but she did not violate any moral laws in the process even though her amount of marriages was frowned upon, they were not illegal or against the laws of the church. Of husbands at the church door I ve had five (If I have wed that often legally), And all were worthy men in their degree. (The Wife of Bath s Tale 5-9) She had no shame in her actions and she did not apologize or excuse herself. She used her womanish wiles to get where she needed to go and get what she wanted, she was not a damsel in distress or a silent back-ground character. She essentially lived like a man, she did nothing wrong, she allowed men to marry her and she inherited their fortunes when they died. She did not murder them, or cheat on them, she simply was their wife who had the great fortune of marrying rich and her husband’s dying young. Thus gainedShow MoreRelatedFigurative Language and the Canterbury Tales13472 Words   |  54 Pages †¢ The Lord sits above the water floods. The Lord remains a King forever. The Lord shall give strength to his people. The lord shall give his people the blessings of peace. -Ps. 29 †¢ â€Å"Let us march to the realization of the American dream. Let us march on segregated housing. Let us march on segregated schools. Let us march on poverty. Let us march on ballot boxes.... --Martin Luther King, Jr. †¢ Mad world ! Mad king! Mad composition ! 6. antagonist: the character or force opposingRead MoreIn a Grove4387 Words   |  18 PagesCommissioner T he time? Certainly, it was about noon yesterday, sir. The unfortunate man was on the road from Sekiyama to Yamashina. He was walking toward Sekiyama with a woman accompanying him on horseback, who I have since learned was his wife. A scarf hanging from her head hid her face from view. All I saw was the color of her clothes, a lilac-colored suit. Her horse was a sorrel with a fine mane. The lady s height? Oh, about four feet five inches. Since I am a Buddhist priest, I tookRead MoreFrom Salvation to Self-Realization18515 Words   |  75 PagesSalvation To Self-Realization: Advertising and the Therapeutic Roots of the Consumer Culture, 1880-1930 T. J. Jackson Lears Lears, T.J. Jackson 1983. From salvation to self-realization: Advertising and the therapeutic roots of the consumer culture, 1880-1930. In The Culture of Consumption: Critical Essays in American History, 18801980, ed. by Richard Wightman Fox and T.J. Jackson Lears, New York: Pantheon Books, 1-38. Reprinted with the permission of the author. 1On or about December 1910, Virginia