Women in Chaucer and Shakespeare
What is a female reader supposed to get from reading a poem or watching a play written by male authors? If the topic is classical, the chances are that it is intended as a sort of model for conduct, a form of etiquette instruction in the guise of a worthy lesson from the traditional classical education -- and therefore obliged to reflect contemporary moral standards to which women were expected to adhere. I propose to compare the treatment of women in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida -- specifically in Act III Scene 1, the moment when Pandarus finally manages to effect a meeting between the lovers of the title -- with that much earlier in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, with specific reference lines 1052-1087. I think we can see a shift from the medieval to the modern mindset in such a comparison: specifically to watch how Chaucer's very medieval use of virtuous models of behavior from the classical world is subverted by Shakespeare's bitter portrayal of one of the bitterest episodes from classical epic. The difference will also demonstrate a shift between the pious Roman Catholicism which Chaucer was obliged to respect in his verse to the revisionist Trojan War of Shakespeare's play, which seems to take place in a godless world.
Chaucer illustrates the perfect way in which classical reading subjects were employed as virtual "conduct manuals" for the female reader. The passage from the Book of the Duchess which I intend to examine is certainly entailed in understanding how Chaucer portrays female characters with an eye on female readers. I would like to quote the passage in full, but ask the reader to approach it specifically with the question of its tone in mind:
'With myn? Nay, alle that hir seyen
Seyde and sworen hit was so.
And thogh they ne hadde, I wolde tho
Have loved best my lady fre,
Thogh I had had al the beautee
That ever had Alcipyades,
And al the strengthe of Ercules,
And therto had the worthinesse
Of Alisaundre, and al the richesse
That ever was...
Troilus and Cressida, characters significant to Homer's depiction of the Trojan War in the epic Iliad by Homer, have been portrayed as different personalities in versions of the play written by Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare. Although the story is just adapted from Homer's epic, the two British writers created and used the lovers' story to make their own interpretation of life during the Trojan War, particularly the depiction
Gender Women occupy conflicted and ambiguous roles in Middle English and Renaissance English literature. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night all show how male authors in particular grappled with the role of women in an increasingly patriarchal society. Women feature prominently in each of these stories, even if their status and perceived morality is questionable. Each of these stories features women who have a
For the poet, Christianity must be devoid of the cultures of corruption and hypocrisy that prevailed during his time. Ideally, a religion, in order to be respected and followed by the people, must maintain a clean image -- that is, an image that reflects the truth of its teachings, wherein its religious principles are embodied by the people who make up the Church. It is also through "Canterbury" that Chaucer
Thus, the notion of ruler ship in marriage is actually an orchestrated ideological shift in the hands of Chaucer the writer, as notions of marriage and change from the point-of-view of the miller, the Wife of Bath, to the Franklin. Even in the more singular voice of Marlowe, the poet acts an intrusive rather an impartial narrator of the tale of "Hero and Leander," as he utilizes a number of
Even the literature of the Party will change. Even the slogans will change. How could you have a slogan like "freedom is slavery" when the concept of freedom has been abolished? The whole climate will be different. In fact there will be no thought as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking - not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness (Orwell 54). So clearly the masses are understanding the
Her prologue is like a bold challenge to the knight in her company. She anticipates Shakespeare's Katerina in the Taming of the Shrew. Just as Katerina challenges Petruchio, so too does the Wife of Bath appear to be challenging the only true man she has likely ever met: one who is in command of himself and thus able to command others. She is like the ermine in Leonardo's painting
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now