-
Essay / Insight and power in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury...
The Wife of Bath is known as one of the world's first feminists. Her ability to use her femininity to take advantage of men is recognized by many who read Chaucer's anthology. He writes in line 470 of the anthology: “She had the teeth of Gat, to say…” By saying this, Chaucer indicates that the Wife of Bath can appear very loving towards men. By having a space between her teeth, she shows a sign of love. Chaucer expands on this sign by translating that the Wife of Bath is considered attractive by a variety of men. In lines 477 and 478, Geoffrey Chaucer writes: “Of the remedies of love she knew parchaunce, for she approaches this art, the old daunce. » Most men may not have realized it, but the Wife of Bath knew how to charm just about any man. She has dated so many men that nothing is new to her. This suggests that she is very skilled and cunning, and that she is not just a woman who needs a man's fortune. It takes a keen observer, like Chaucer, to understand