POST 5: Explain what you find modern and/or old-fashioned in the Wife of Bath's approach to sexuality and romantic love.

                     I think it is safe to say that the wife of bath is more modern and a lot like us today than we realize, when it comes to her approach on sexuality and Romantic love. The wife of bath is very different from the subservient wives of her time. She seems to be a free thinker, she speaks her mind and has strength and motivation. Women in her day were totally dependent on men, whether it be a father, brother or husband for their livelihood. Most knew their place.In her lengthy Prologue, the Wife of Bath apparently feels the need to establish her authority in a more scholarly way. She imitates the ways of churchmen and scholars by backing up her claims with quotations from Scripture and works of antiquity. One could also argue that the Wife of bath, is not much different from your modern day feminist. When it comes to her interpretation of the bible and its scriptures she ask the question that “When have you seen that in any time great God forbade marriage explicitly? Tell me, I pray you. Or where did he command virginity? You know as well as I, without a doubt, that the apostle, when he speaks of maidenhood, says that he had no instructions on it. Men may counsel a woman to be single, but counseling is not commanding; he left it to our own judgment. For if God had commanded maidenhood, then with that same word had he condemned marrying. And certainly, if no seed were sown, from where then should virgins spring? Paul dared not command a thing for which his master gave no order. The prize is set for virgin..."(28)
Furthermore, The characterization of the The Wife of Bath  "Her kerchiefs were of finest weave and ground; I dare swear that they weighed a full ten pound." (30)the weight of her clothing, letting us know that she wears any exaggerated amount of clothes to show off her wealth. "With five churched husbands bringing joy and strife" (28)This line tells us that she has been with many men, not for love, but for money. A Modern Equivalent of The Wife of Bath is the equivalent of a modern day house wife. She is the typical woman who marries for money instead of love.




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