1 The focuses of this annotated text is to examine the various theological, mythological, and historical authorities found in The Wife of Bath s Prologue and determine their true value after close examination of them within their original context. In Chaucer s work, these sources from The Wife of Bath s Prologue are used by one of her husbands as a means of using these authorities to condemn women based on past transgressions. However, these authorities he recites often omit important details that imply that the men who were victimized by these women have played some vital role in their own victimization. The general trend found in these male characters is that they have committed one of these offenses: negligence, betrayed god, or cheated on their spouses. 720 Of Eva 1 first, that for hir wikkednesse 1 According to Genesis 3:1-7 in the Holy Bible, it was the snake that first tempted Eve to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree (Holy Bible 3). This claim found in Chaucer s The Wife of Bath Prologue that Eve s wikkednesse is the origin of sin doesn t correlate with the episode in Genesis. The Holy Bible indicates that it was the snake that is responsible for mankind s damnation because the snake tempted Eve to eat from the forbidden tree. Anne Laskaya, author of Chaucer s Approach to Gender in the Canterbury Tales, asserts that men s desire for women separates them from the divine father, as Adam was tempted away from God (Laskaya 82). The general conclusion regarding this episode in Genesis is that Eve (who is representative of all women) is responsible for the downfall of mankind, and therefore all women throughout history have followed in this trend since the Garden of Eden. Also, in Genesis 3:16, God punishes Eve by forcing her to have to endure the pain associated with pregnancy and childbirth as well as being drawn to her husband who will dominate her (Holy Bible 3). The fact that God punishes Eve by handing over her sovereignty to Adam sets up this battle for power between the sexes that very much concerns Chaucer s Wife of Bath since she is interested in female sovereignty over men 1 Note that this an unusual annotated bibliography in that the student focused on both primary sources (the sources referenced by the Wife of Bath, in this case) in order to analyze the lines and, more typically, on secondary sources regarding the Wife s use of these authoritee[s]. She does not (and should not) merely provide background information (ie, expository).
(mainly wives in regards to their husbands). Michael Masi s Chaucer and Gender references Camille Paglie s claim in her book Sexual Personae that there is a tension between the official theological and bipolarization of the genders and the obvious evidence to acknowledge the reality of the complex identity of individuals who may be, to a greater or lesser extent, composed of the same characteristics which are found in the opposite gender (Masi 7). This is evident in the story of Adam and Eve because according to theological record both state that Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, but yet it was Eve, and not Adam, who was blamed for damning all mankind and requiring man s need for Christ s sacrifice in order to gain eternal life. 2 721 Was al mankynde broght to wrecchednesse, 722 For which that Jhesu Crist hymself was slayn, 723 That boghte us with his herte blood agayn. 724 Lo, heere expres of womman may ye fynde 725 That womman was the los of al mankynde. 726 Tho redde he me how Sampson 2 loste his heres: 2 In Judges 13:5 and Judges 16:17, the Holy Bible presents Samson s hair as the source of his unfathomable strength. It is repeated twice in the bible that no razor can touch Samson s head because he is a Nazarite of God (Holy Bible 263, 267). Again, oral tradition has reader s recall a gender biased version of this story in which Delilah, the female antagonist, is the sole source of Samson s (the protagonist male s) downfall. However, the Holy Bible points out that Samson betrayed the Lord by
informing Delilah of how to defeat him since his unshaven locks were a sign of his devotion to God as a Nazarite, which would indicate that Samson was partly responsible for his own demise. Also, the Holy Bible stated that Samson knew Delilah was a Philistine (enemy tribe of the Nazarites) and therefore knew Delilah was not to be trusted. This assertion is further supported by the fact that in Judges 16:6-14 Samson had deceived Delilah twice about the source of his strength. The first time, Delilah bound Samson in fibrous cords and alerted the Philistines to attack. The second instance occurred in a similar manner (Holy Bible 267). This moment also indicates that Samson not only knew that Delilah was not to be trusted, but that he recognized that divulging the secret of his strength would result in his betraying God as a Nazarite. 3 727 Slepynge, his lemman kitte it with hir sheres; 728 Thurgh which treson loste he bothe his yen. 729 Tho redde he me, if that I shal nat lyen, 730 Of Hercules and of his Dianyre 3, 3 According to Morford and Lenardon s Classical Mythology, Hercules instructed Deianira to collect his poisoned blood after a vicious battle with Nessus because it would be efficacious in preventing Hercules from loving any other woman more than Deianira (Morford and Lenardon Hercules 330). Morford and Lenardon admit that Deianira s knowledge of her husband Heracle s love for Iole is suspect, but they continue with the legend explaining that Deianira overheard rumors that Hercules was pursuing the love of Iole after Hercules had been away from Deianira for fifteen months. Out of jealousy, Deinira dipped one of Hercules robes into his poisoned blood she collected years prior. This same robe clung to his chest during a sacrificial festival and resulted in his demise (Morford and Lenardon Hercules 331-
332). However, many overlook the fact that it was Hercules wandering eye that catalyzed his own demise. If it hadn t been for the fact that he began to pursue a woman other than his own wife, than his wife would never have dipped his robes into his poisoned blood out of jealousy. This further highlights the fact that it was Hercules who had instructed Deianira on how to make sure that he could love no other woman above her. 4 731 That caused hym to sette hymself afyre. 732 No thyng forgat he the care and the wo 733 That Socrates hadde with his wyves two 4, 4 #8: Leonard Woodburry, author of Socrates and the Daughter of Astrides, clarifies that Aristotle had two wives: the first of whom was Xanthippe and the second was Myrto. Woodburry also notes that Xanthippe was profoundly angered at the fact that Socrates married another wife while he was still with her (Woodburry 9). 734 How Xantippa 5 caste pisse upon his heed. 5 Leonard Woodbury also points out the fact that tradition remembers Xanthippe as Socrates shrewish wife (7). Margaret Bloom asserts that Xantippe s bad temper was the result of Socrates limitations as a provider (761). Xanthippe is a common literary symbol for the nagging wife. However, as Margaret Bloom explains, Xanthippe s nagging was the result of Socrates shortcomings as a provider(761). 735 This sely man sat stille as he were deed; 736 He wiped his heed, namoore dorste he seyn,
737 But `Er that thonder stynte, comth a reyn!' 5 738 Of Phasipha 6, that was the queene of Crete, 6 According to Morford and Lenardon s Classical Mythology, Minos had asked Poseidon to send him a beautiful bull that he could offer as sacrifice to the sea-god. However, Minos admired the beautiful creature that Poseidon sent him so much that he decided not to sacrifice the animal to the god, but instead offered the god a bull he favored less. Out of anger, Poseidon forced Minos wife Pasiphae to fall in love and consummate that unnatural love with her bull. The product of that affair between Pasiphae and the bull resulted in the infamous Minotaur- half man, half bull ( Attica 373). Again, recollection has readings focus on Pasiphae s physical relationship with Poseidon s bull, and not on the fact that Poseidon forced Pasiphae to fall in love as a means of punishing her husband s irreverent actions. 739 For shrewednesse, hym thoughte the tale swete; 740 Fy! Spek namoore -- it is a grisly thyng -- 741 Of hire horrible lust and hir likyng. 742 Of Clitermystra 7, for hire lecherye, 7 Robert Fagles translation of Homer s The Odyssey mentions that Agamemnon s ghost praised Penelope for her faithfulness and commended her because the fame of her great virtue will never die. Also, Fagles translates that Agamemnon denounced his unfaithful wife Clytemnestra by stating that all men will remember her as the one who brands with a foul name the breed of womankind, even the honest ones to come. This part of The
Odyssey also stresses the extraordinary amount of time that these two women were neglected by their husbands (Fagles 474). Mary Leftkowicz, author of Women in Greek Myth, expresses her sentiments concerning Agamemnon s generalized view that women are untrustworthy as unfair since even good women like Penelope are now viewed in the same light as the murderous and adulterous Clytemnestra (Leftkowicz 83). 6 743 That falsly made hire housbonde 8 for to dye, 8 Robert Fagles translation of Homer s The Odyssey pointed out that Aegisthus, Clytemnestra s lover and cousin to her husband Agamemnon, was warned by the gods not to pursue an affair with Clytemnestra. However, Fagles points out that not only did Aegisthus pursue this relationship with Clytemnestra, but that he aided in her plot to kill her husband upon his arrival home from the Trojan War (78). 744 He redde it with ful good devocioun. 9 9 Doris Enright and Clark Shoukri, authors of The Wife of Bath s Parody of Scholasticism, explain that Chaucer s Wife of Bath uses the sic et non technique as a means of demonstrating that every misogynistic question raised by men in these authorities has conflicting opinions and often contain a part of the story that can be refuted (103). The general trend in The Wife of Bath s Prologue is that this technique is used to refute the omitted parts of these theological, mythological and history authorities and point out their gender biased qualities. However, the Wife of Bath relies on the audience s knowledge of these theological, historical, and biblical sources to acknowledge the gaps left out in these stories that has villianized the female characters.
7 Works Cited Bloom, Margaret. Freshman Response to Comparative Literature. The English Journal 18.9 (1929): 761-3. JSTOR. Monmouth Coll. Lib., Monmouth IL. 11 Oct. 2007 < www.jstor.org >. Enright, Doris, and Clark Shoukri. The Wife of Bath s Parody of Scholasticism. Journal of Comparative Poetics 1.19 (1999): 97-112. JSTOR. Monmouth Coll. Lib., Monmouth, IL. 1 Oct. 2007 <www.jstor.org>. Holy Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1959. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. Viking Penguin: New York, 2005. Laskaya, Anne. Chaucer s Approach to Gender in the Canterbury Tales. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1995. Leftkowitz, Mary R. Influential Women. Women in Greek Myth. Maryland: The Johns Hopkins UP, 1986. 56-70. Masi, Michael. Chaucer and Gender. New York: Peter Lang, 2005. Morford, Mark P.O. and Robert J. Lenardon. Attica. Classical Mythology. David McKay: New York, 1972. 357-74. ---.. Hercules. Classical Mythology. David McKay: New York, 1972. 329-33. Woodbury, Leonard. Socrates and the Daughter of Astrides. Phoenix 27.1 (1973): 7 25. JSTOR. Monmouth Coll. Lib., Monmouth IL. 24 Oct. 2007 <www.jstor.org>.