"The Wife of Bath's Prologue as a New Look at Traditional Female Roles in the Medieval Church the male-dominated institutional church and creates new spaces for women in the late Middle Ages Both texts are set in the Middle Ages, where religion was interpreted and distributed, and therefore controlled, by male authorities, or church fathers, as illustrated in the texts. , religious texts were often manipulated by men to control and oppress women. However, both Margery and Wife of Bath resist this oppression by inverting the religious discourse and using it to their advantage of religion and their personal interpretations religious practices by women ultimately calls into question the authority and reliability of interpretive structures. Both texts describe how male and female interpretations of the same text can be in direct opposition, revealing the unreliability and instability of interpretation, as it depends on who interprets and for what purpose. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the Middle Ages, Christianity was dominated by male authority figures, such as God, Jesus, priests, bishops, and religious scholars, also known as church fathers. As a result of this structure, women adapt to religion to the extent that men dictate. Male interpretive structures of religious texts have allowed them to control women's choices and oppress them in society. For example, in the “Prologue of the Wife of Bath,” the Wife of Bath is told that she would have to marry only once, because “What Crist is gone never but onis / To the wedding in the reed of Galilee, / That near the lo same example he taught me” (Chaucer 10-12). She is rebuked with the words of Jesus that she uses to rebuke the Samaritan: “'You have had five husbands,' she said,/'And do you think that the man who now has you, /let him not be your husband'” (17 -19). This example, the number of men women can marry is dictated by a biblical story of this case in which Jesus, a male figure, disapproves of this of Wife of Bath, she talks about her fifth husband Janken: "He spoke more badly than you might think. / And then, he knew many proverbs / That in this world grow gras or herbes" (772-774). Janken constantly regurgitated stories of women in the Bible or legends of women who cheated on their husbands or killed their husbands. He used them as an excuse to reproach and insult the Wife of Bath, telling her that: “'A woman beautiful, yet chaste, / Is like a gold ring in a woman's nose'” (784-785) The feminine ideal of the Middle Ages is a virgin, modeled on the Virgin Mary, the woman who gave birth to Jesus, the leader of the religion. Men used her as an example to ensure the faithfulness of their wives, and the Bath police wife points out: “… it is impossible /of whom any clerk would speak well wyves,/But-if it be saints seintes lyves,/Ne of noon another woman never the moment” (687-691) Men praise only women who are “holy,”. or in other words, women who meet the standards they created using the Virgin Mary as a model. They took the Virgin Mary as the ideal woman and created a code of behavior with which to hold women accountable and criticize women who deviate from it. . For example, in the Book of Margery Kempe, Margery expresses her devotion to God in a very physical and visceral way that differs from the institutional church's definition of how a woman should behave. While the church usesthe Scriptures to dictate proper behavior, Margery uses her body as a place of knowledge that God uses directly to communicate with her. As discussed in class, men are associated with the spirit and women are associated with the physical body. Because the female body has orifices that are more open and susceptible to sin, it is necessary to contain the body in an enclosed physical space to prevent a violation of the openings, as nuns in a convent or anchors who take a vow of seclusion stay in cells attached to churches . Margery does not abide by this, and instead travels frequently and makes several pilgrimages. He does not allow himself to be contained, making a public spectacle of his physical experiences of God, using his body as a vehicle of expression rather than as something to hide and put away. As a result, she is often accused of Lollardy and/or heresy. This does not correspond to the masculine ideal of a religious woman and for this she is almost condemned several times and almost burned at the stake. Even the clothes he wears are controlled by the institutional church. Margery states that she was commanded by God to dress in white, but white clothes are only appropriate for virgins. The Archbishop asks her: “Why do you go dressed in white? Are you a girl?" (Kempe 2923). When Margery responds that she is a wife, the Archbishop orders: "to fettyn a peyr of feterys and seyd sche schulde ben feteryd, for sche was a false heretyke" (2925). The Archbishop arrests Margery because she does not follow his interpretation of religion, but rather her own through her relationship with God; he controls her using male interpretive structures. Both the Wife of Bath and Margery resist this oppression in their own ways to achieve their respective ends by reclaiming knowledge. The Wife of Bath justifies her knowledge through her life experiences: "'Experience, though noon auctoritee/Was in this world, would right to me/To speak of what is in marriage" (Chaucer 1-3 ). Margery claims to know through physical experience of God and her visions. Both Margery and the Wife of Bath use this knowledge to manipulate clerical discourse to oppose male domination. For example, the Wife of Bath's claim to knowledge through life experience gives her the ability to talk about sexuality. She rejects the institutional Church's value of chastity, arguing that: “Men can devinate, polish and doun./But well, I want to express, without lye,/God has cursed us to be multiplied and multiplied;/That kind text I can well understand” (26-29). The Wife of Bath takes Scripture and interprets it herself, in direct opposition to the institutional church and in defiance of men's desire for their women to be chaste; he manipulates the Scriptures in a way that justifies and even celebrates his actions. In response to the claim that she should have married only once, Wife of Bath once again turns to her knowledge of the Bible and cites several examples of men who have had multiple wives: "Behold, here is the wise king, dan Salomon; I believe that he had wives more than once" (35-36) "I know well that Abraham was a holy man, and Jacob, more than I could; and every one of them had wives more than two; and many other holy men also; .have you ever, in any era, that God defended marriage with explicit words? her points By referring to Abraham, Jacob, two of the patriarchs of the religion, and King Solomon, the wise king, as people in the religion who had multiple marriages, she completely reverses the arguments against hers, using their own methods against. them Margery Kempe also uses clerical speech to demonstratehis knowledge and defend himself from accusations of heresy and Lollardy. After the archbishop arrests her for wearing white and not being a virgin, she is examined by clerics as she prays and cries at the back of the chapel. The “ful boystowsly” archbishop (Kempe 2942) asks her, “Why do you cry so, woman?” (2942) and she replies: “Lord, you schal welyn sum the day you had cried as much as I” (2943). He proceeds to “make available the Articles of our Feyth…[Margery] Answerynwell, tremendously and promptly wythowtyn every great stody so that the myth does not blame him” (2944-2946). The Archbishop and the clerics conclude that: “Sche knowith hir feyth wel now. What do I do with him? (2946-2947). They're not sure what to do with a woman who doesn't align with what they expect from a woman of faith, but is still a woman of faith. Margery confidently responds to the Articles of Faith and challenges the Archbishop by explaining that her tears are an expression of faith after he rebukes her for it. In fact, she is often reprimanded for crying so loudly and bitterly, with one priest telling her, “Damsel, Jhesu is ded long sithyn” (3496). When Margery stops crying she replies, “Lord, her death is as fresh to me as she died this very day, and so I think it should be to you and to all Cristen pepil. We awt evyr to han mende of hys kendnes ed evyrthynkyn of the dolful deth that he deyd for us” (3497-3500). Margery turns the priest's question on its head and changes the issue from being about his seemingly inappropriate crying to the fact that he doesn't think about Jesus' sacrifice as often as he should. He cries because he constantly, eternally cries for Jesus and how he died for the Christian people. Instead of being shamed for his crying, he actually manages to shame the priest for claiming to be a lover of Jesus, but appearing to forget the gravity of his sacrifice and not express his gratitude and love as deeply or severely as Margery. Afterwards, a “good lady, inheriting his communication, said: “Ser, it is a good example to me, and also to other men, of the grace which God works in hir sowle” (3500-3501). Margery recruits the support of another woman in the crowd, empowering her in a sense. This immediate reaction shows how Margery manages to create a new space for women to engage in clerical discourse. Furthermore, as pointed out in the question, Margery uses a parable, a traditionally religious form, and tells a story that deeply touches the archbishop and the clergy. After she tells her story, one of the clerics who had previously opposed her comes to her and “preys hir of forgefnes who had so well ageyn hir specyaly to prey on hym” (3017-3018). By using clerical discourse, Margery not only vindicates herself but also places herself in a position of authority, so much so that the clerics who originally opposed her now ask her to pray for them. By manipulating discourse, he reverses the balance of power and destabilizes authority, creating a space for himself between the archbishop and the clergy within the institutional church. Margery and the Wife of Bath appear to use what theorist Stuart Hall would call a transcoding strategy, that is, taking an already existing meaning and reassigning a new meaning to it. Margery and Wife of Bath contest the meaning of something from within, taking the original interpretive strategy and challenging it from within. In this way, they successfully create new spaces in Christian society where women have autonomy over their bodies, whether they are used sexually or as a vehicle through which God can communicate, and can act on their choices without being reprimanded and reprimanded. Just as the cleric begs for Margery's forgiveness and prayer, so does her husband.

Topic > "The Wife of Bath's Prologue as a New Look at Traditional Female Roles in the Medieval Church the male-dominated institutional church and creates new spaces for women in the late Middle Ages Both texts are set in the Middle Ages, where religion was interpreted and distributed, and therefore controlled, by male authorities, or church fathers, as illustrated in the texts. , religious texts were often manipulated by men to control and oppress women. However, both Margery and Wife of Bath resist this oppression by inverting the religious discourse and using it to their advantage of religion and their personal interpretations religious practices by women ultimately calls into question the authority and reliability of interpretive structures. Both texts describe how male and female interpretations of the same text can be in direct opposition, revealing the unreliability and instability of interpretation, as it depends on who interprets and for what purpose. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the Middle Ages, Christianity was dominated by male authority figures, such as God, Jesus, priests, bishops, and religious scholars, also known as church fathers. As a result of this structure, women adapt to religion to the extent that men dictate. Male interpretive structures of religious texts have allowed them to control women's choices and oppress them in society. For example, in the “Prologue of the Wife of Bath,” the Wife of Bath is told that she would have to marry only once, because “What Crist is gone never but onis / To the wedding in the reed of Galilee, / That near the lo same example he taught me” (Chaucer 10-12). She is rebuked with the words of Jesus that she uses to rebuke the Samaritan: “'You have had five husbands,' she said,/'And do you think that the man who now has you, /let him not be your husband'” (17 -19). This example, the number of men women can marry is dictated by a biblical story of this case in which Jesus, a male figure, disapproves of this of Wife of Bath, she talks about her fifth husband Janken: "He spoke more badly than you might think. / And then, he knew many proverbs / That in this world grow gras or herbes" (772-774). Janken constantly regurgitated stories of women in the Bible or legends of women who cheated on their husbands or killed their husbands. He used them as an excuse to reproach and insult the Wife of Bath, telling her that: “'A woman beautiful, yet chaste, / Is like a gold ring in a woman's nose'” (784-785) The feminine ideal of the Middle Ages is a virgin, modeled on the Virgin Mary, the woman who gave birth to Jesus, the leader of the religion. Men used her as an example to ensure the faithfulness of their wives, and the Bath police wife points out: “… it is impossible /of whom any clerk would speak well wyves,/But-if it be saints seintes lyves,/Ne of noon another woman never the moment” (687-691) Men praise only women who are “holy,”. or in other words, women who meet the standards they created using the Virgin Mary as a model. They took the Virgin Mary as the ideal woman and created a code of behavior with which to hold women accountable and criticize women who deviate from it. . For example, in the Book of Margery Kempe, Margery expresses her devotion to God in a very physical and visceral way that differs from the institutional church's definition of how a woman should behave. While the church usesthe Scriptures to dictate proper behavior, Margery uses her body as a place of knowledge that God uses directly to communicate with her. As discussed in class, men are associated with the spirit and women are associated with the physical body. Because the female body has orifices that are more open and susceptible to sin, it is necessary to contain the body in an enclosed physical space to prevent a violation of the openings, as nuns in a convent or anchors who take a vow of seclusion stay in cells attached to churches . Margery does not abide by this, and instead travels frequently and makes several pilgrimages. He does not allow himself to be contained, making a public spectacle of his physical experiences of God, using his body as a vehicle of expression rather than as something to hide and put away. As a result, she is often accused of Lollardy and/or heresy. This does not correspond to the masculine ideal of a religious woman and for this she is almost condemned several times and almost burned at the stake. Even the clothes he wears are controlled by the institutional church. Margery states that she was commanded by God to dress in white, but white clothes are only appropriate for virgins. The Archbishop asks her: “Why do you go dressed in white? Are you a girl?" (Kempe 2923). When Margery responds that she is a wife, the Archbishop orders: "to fettyn a peyr of feterys and seyd sche schulde ben feteryd, for sche was a false heretyke" (2925). The Archbishop arrests Margery because she does not follow his interpretation of religion, but rather her own through her relationship with God; he controls her using male interpretive structures. Both the Wife of Bath and Margery resist this oppression in their own ways to achieve their respective ends by reclaiming knowledge. The Wife of Bath justifies her knowledge through her life experiences: "'Experience, though noon auctoritee/Was in this world, would right to me/To speak of what is in marriage" (Chaucer 1-3 ). Margery claims to know through physical experience of God and her visions. Both Margery and the Wife of Bath use this knowledge to manipulate clerical discourse to oppose male domination. For example, the Wife of Bath's claim to knowledge through life experience gives her the ability to talk about sexuality. She rejects the institutional Church's value of chastity, arguing that: “Men can devinate, polish and doun./But well, I want to express, without lye,/God has cursed us to be multiplied and multiplied;/That kind text I can well understand” (26-29). The Wife of Bath takes Scripture and interprets it herself, in direct opposition to the institutional church and in defiance of men's desire for their women to be chaste; he manipulates the Scriptures in a way that justifies and even celebrates his actions. In response to the claim that she should have married only once, Wife of Bath once again turns to her knowledge of the Bible and cites several examples of men who have had multiple wives: "Behold, here is the wise king, dan Salomon; I believe that he had wives more than once" (35-36) "I know well that Abraham was a holy man, and Jacob, more than I could; and every one of them had wives more than two; and many other holy men also; .have you ever, in any era, that God defended marriage with explicit words? her points By referring to Abraham, Jacob, two of the patriarchs of the religion, and King Solomon, the wise king, as people in the religion who had multiple marriages, she completely reverses the arguments against hers, using their own methods against. them Margery Kempe also uses clerical speech to demonstratehis knowledge and defend himself from accusations of heresy and Lollardy. After the archbishop arrests her for wearing white and not being a virgin, she is examined by clerics as she prays and cries at the back of the chapel. The “ful boystowsly” archbishop (Kempe 2942) asks her, “Why do you cry so, woman?” (2942) and she replies: “Lord, you schal welyn sum the day you had cried as much as I” (2943). He proceeds to “make available the Articles of our Feyth…[Margery] Answerynwell, tremendously and promptly wythowtyn every great stody so that the myth does not blame him” (2944-2946). The Archbishop and the clerics conclude that: “Sche knowith hir feyth wel now. What do I do with him? (2946-2947). They're not sure what to do with a woman who doesn't align with what they expect from a woman of faith, but is still a woman of faith. Margery confidently responds to the Articles of Faith and challenges the Archbishop by explaining that her tears are an expression of faith after he rebukes her for it. In fact, she is often reprimanded for crying so loudly and bitterly, with one priest telling her, “Damsel, Jhesu is ded long sithyn” (3496). When Margery stops crying she replies, “Lord, her death is as fresh to me as she died this very day, and so I think it should be to you and to all Cristen pepil. We awt evyr to han mende of hys kendnes ed evyrthynkyn of the dolful deth that he deyd for us” (3497-3500). Margery turns the priest's question on its head and changes the issue from being about his seemingly inappropriate crying to the fact that he doesn't think about Jesus' sacrifice as often as he should. He cries because he constantly, eternally cries for Jesus and how he died for the Christian people. Instead of being shamed for his crying, he actually manages to shame the priest for claiming to be a lover of Jesus, but appearing to forget the gravity of his sacrifice and not express his gratitude and love as deeply or severely as Margery. Afterwards, a “good lady, inheriting his communication, said: “Ser, it is a good example to me, and also to other men, of the grace which God works in hir sowle” (3500-3501). Margery recruits the support of another woman in the crowd, empowering her in a sense. This immediate reaction shows how Margery manages to create a new space for women to engage in clerical discourse. Furthermore, as pointed out in the question, Margery uses a parable, a traditionally religious form, and tells a story that deeply touches the archbishop and the clergy. After she tells her story, one of the clerics who had previously opposed her comes to her and “preys hir of forgefnes who had so well ageyn hir specyaly to prey on hym” (3017-3018). By using clerical discourse, Margery not only vindicates herself but also places herself in a position of authority, so much so that the clerics who originally opposed her now ask her to pray for them. By manipulating discourse, he reverses the balance of power and destabilizes authority, creating a space for himself between the archbishop and the clergy within the institutional church. Margery and the Wife of Bath appear to use what theorist Stuart Hall would call a transcoding strategy, that is, taking an already existing meaning and reassigning a new meaning to it. Margery and Wife of Bath contest the meaning of something from within, taking the original interpretive strategy and challenging it from within. In this way, they successfully create new spaces in Christian society where women have autonomy over their bodies, whether they are used sexually or as a vehicle through which God can communicate, and can act on their choices without being reprimanded and reprimanded. Just as the cleric begs for Margery's forgiveness and prayer, so does her husband.