Canterbury Tales Essay Based on the four tales, Geoffrey Chaucer depicts an ideal relationship between men and women during the Middle Ages. In “The Franklin’s Tale,” he explains that a relationship between a man and a woman should be equal; also mentions that they should be completely loyal and trustworthy towards each other. No matter the type of relationship the characters have in the tales, Chaucer proves his point that equality, loyalty, and trust are the right ways to go about a solid marriage or a forever-lasting relationship. In the Canterbury tales, the tales contain different views of marriage. In “The Knight’s Tale,” men see women and love as a competition. During the Middle Ages, men approached love as a competition often without taking the women’s feelings into consideration. Both Arcite and Palamon try to win Emily’s love, and are very competitive in doing so as they believe that Emily is their true love. Chaucer is trying to make a point that men dominate our world proving that men during the Middle Ages, could care less about how women felt. It can also be seen as if women are slaves for men, based on the way they are treated. “The freshness of her beauty strikes me dead, / ‘Hers that I see, roaming in yonder place! /Unless I gain the mercy of her grace, / Unless at least I see her day by day, / I am but dead. There is no more to say” (Chaucer 33). This quote proves how essential women are to men. Chaucer clearly believes that men dominated the Middle Ages and women unfortunately, did not have a say.
In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” the power shifts from male dominance to female dominance. It talks about how men used to rule over women, but then, Chaucer completely flips the script. Instead, the women seize control and start to call the shots. “My liege and lady, in general,’ said he, / ‘A woman wants the self-same sovereignty* / Over her husband as over her lover, / And master him; he must not be above her. / That is your greatest wish, whether you kill / Or spare me; please yourself, I wait your will” (Chaucer 286). This quote really sets the message that women are in charge and the men have absolutely no say in what the women do. Even if they disagree with a woman’s choice, it is out of their control. A woman with complete control is not something you often see, but during the Middle Ages, life was completely different.
In “The Franklin’s Tale,” Chaucer makes it clear as to what he believes is the