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Mikaela Bracamonte

Ms. Figueroa

Senior English 3

14 December 2018

Gender Role

Gender roles play a major factor in every society. Geoffrey Chaucer is an early English writer

known to be the father of all literature. Chaucer is one of the first writers to ever convert old

English into English that is spoken today. One of Geoffrey Chaucer most known stories that he

had written was the tale called “The wife of bath.” The tale is about young knights who

disobeyed the king’s law and in order to keep his life he must answer the queen's question

correctly. The question was what do women desire the most, the young knight had to search

across the land to have someone help him not answer the question. In the wife of bath tales

Chaucer had define gender roles by treating all women equally and allowing women to have a

voice in society.

Gender roles are an important value to help build a society and its rules. In the wife of bath

Chaucer had defined gender roles equal at first when the king had made a law for all men to treat

women appropriately. In the tale it states, “now in the times were fairies everywhere, if came to

pass that a knight who dwelt at king Arthur’s court forgot his vow to guard all women and treat

one equally” (Chaucer 5-6). King Arthur had provided women rights, and fairness in the

medieval times where women usually had no voice in their community. Another example of how

Chaucer defines gender roles that is represented in the tale is when king Arthur permits his wife

to decided what happens to the knight. In the tale it also states, “they begged king Arthur for

mercy so often and so earnestly that at length he said, ‘I will give him to the queen, and he may
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live or die accordingly to her will’” (Chaucer 9-10). King Arthur had allowed women to have the

right and opportunity in a court setting to be able to have voice and choose what type of

discipline someone may have if they break any laws. Women had an equal right in their society;

their voices were permitted to make judgement as to what happens in their society. Therefore,

Chaucer had defined gender roles by allowing men and women were to be equal no other gender

was dominant.

In the tale “The Wife of Bath” Chaucer defines gender roles as men giving women the equal

right or respect and opportunity to provide an option. The important thing that has come for this

talker is that Chaucer demonstrates his beliefs of how women should be treated. It also

demonstrates his belief in how a woman may act, and their needs in life. The tale shows the

lesson of what a person may desire or want out of life.

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Works Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Canterbury Tales.” 1392