Today in Literature
you will need…
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Your journals
Land
A writing utensil
Your brains
Your Chaucer Packet
Some creative interpretation
The Wife of Bath
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Do NOW:
 In
your journals…
 List
any ideas, concepts, or images that may
come to your mind when you read “The Wife of
Bath”
 Write
down any guesses that you may have
about who this character might be/what she
may be like
 Next,
imagine what she might look like. Draw a
picture of her that comes to mind based off of
her title
Gimme some of that context…

Pop Quiz…
What have we established so far about women’s social
standings on the Feudal System scale?
 What is Chaucer’s attitude towards religion?
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To really understand the SATIRIC NORM that Chaucer is
trying to create through the Wife of Bath….
Let’s dig a little deeper…
As we read the article…
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Interactively read!
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Highlight
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Circle
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Underline
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Annotate
Look for answers the questions on
the following slide and take note
of them in your journals!
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Women in the Middle Ages: ANALYSIS
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Women and religion:
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What was the dominant religion of the time?
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How much power did the Church have in the societal system of the Middle Ages?
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What were the effects of women’s identities being so closely tied to a scriptural context?
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What were women’s rights as an individual/person in society?
Women and character
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What were the most common roles for a woman in the family?
Women and rights
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The way they were viewed by man…
Women and family
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Why do you think that this is important?
What were the stereotypes that revolved around women’s characters of the time?
What conjectures/assumptions can we make about Chaucer’s character of the Wife of Bath prior to reading
her mini portrait based off of this article?
Thinks to Think

Now that we have a little bit of a deeper
understanding of the outlook on women
during this time, let’s keep this in mind as
we read about the Wife of Bath and
analyze her character portrait.

Always be thinking….”what is Chaucer
REALLY saying about her?”

CHARACTERIZATION! (direct + indirect)
The Wife of Bath
 So….in
modern day English,
PLEASE?!
 Brief
recap the synopsis of the
portrait? What happened in it?
Characterization Part 1:
Women
and SEX
Let’s take it from the top…
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TPCASTT
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TITLE! (Naming the Baby)
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WHY did Chaucer have the wife come
from a city called BATH? Why not some
other name? What is the significance?

What connotations do you associate
with BATH?
The City of Bath
“Founded by
the Romans as
a thermal spa,
Bath became
an important
centre of the
wool industry in
the Middle
Ages.”
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/428
Baths in the Bible
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The Church was a MAJOR power during the Middle Ages
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The Church’s view defined the way people were perceived…including WOMEN
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Chaucer had a very strong opinion on the Church (especially as viewed in some of his
character portraits already)
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King David and Bathsheba
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Rooftop bathing is the new thing!
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David was “seduced” by Bathsheba
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Bathsheba represents what about females?
The Wife of Bath & Bathsheba
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Prelude to the Wife’s Prologue:
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Wife of Bath argues against St. Jerome, author of
misogynistic text:
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St Jerome was 4th-century bishop who argued for celibacy of the priesthood
on the basis of the wickedness of women.
Here is a quote from his “Letter to Eustochian”:
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David was a man after God's own heart, and his lips had often sung of the
Holy One, the future Christ; and yet as he walked upon his housetop he was
fascinated by Bathsheba's nudity, and added murder to adultery
Characterization Part 2:
Women and Fashion
…It’s all about the shoes, really!
Coverchiefs
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Chaucer provides us with the knowledge that the Wife is a very
skilled cloth-maker, one whose products surpass even those of
the most famous cloth-makers of Belgium. We would expect
that such a woman would be in the possession of fine quality
cloth, herself. It is fitting, then, that the Wife's most distinguishing
garment piece is her elaborate headdress, which we are told
must weigh ten pounds. This statement, alone, requires us to
pay special attention to the wife's coverchiefs.
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Rather than simply wearing a headdress, the Wife of Bath
wears one in such a way that it advertises her, suggesting that
the Wife wishes to call attention to herself. In this way, the
coverchief reveals the wife's prideful nature. It also illuminates
that her status is elevated by way of her skill for cloth-making,
which in turn, ensures her economic prosperity.
Scarlet Hosen
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When venturing to church on Sunday's the Wife pairs her elaborate coverchiefs
with a pair of scarlet hosen. It is very well known that in medieval times, red hosen
were strongly associated with the nobility. They were also sometimes worn by folk
of lower status in the hopes of feigning their social rank. The Wife of Bath is not truly
a member of the nobility by birth, but her income allows her to dress as a one of
the upper class.
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Often the mistake is made that her hosen are red in color, but it is crucial to
interpretation that they are specified as being scarlet. Scarlet refers to "escarlate,"
a particular kind of woolen fabric which was exceedingly expensive and of very
high quality. Thus, scarlet refers less to the color than the fabric which the hosen
were made out of. The process to produce this material was elaborate, involving
many cycles of the fabric being napped and shorn. The end result was fabric
which was extremely silky. Only cloths which went through this specific process
were considered scarlet, making it very costly to obtain. Scarlet cloth could then
be died any color, though red dye was commonly used. The superiority of the
Wife's hosen are further articulated with the detail that they are "yteyd"straight,
meaning that the back seam was sewn straight (Hodges).
Taken together, the Wife's elaborate coverchiefs, scarlet hosen, and the new shoes
she pairs them with, are a proclamation of this pilgrim's wealth and pride.
Wimple and Hat
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The hat that the Wife of Bath wears contrasts greatly with her
coverchiefs. Her broad hat could possibly be a peasant sun
hat, or a standard pilgrim hat. Either one would be practical
for a pilgrimage, as they would serve protective purposes
(Hodges). It is not surprising that the Wife would possess the
appropriate garments for a pilgrimage, as Chaucer informs us
that she often ventures on such journeys, making her a
seasoned traveler.
The fact that she is "ywympled wel" further emphasizes the
Wife's experienced relationship to travelling. Wimples were
not in high fashion in the 1380's. Rather, they were commonly
worn at the time by elderly women, widows, or nuns
(Hodges). As her Sunday attire has made evident, the Wife of
Bath is fully informed on fashions of the time. She is capable
of dressing herself in lavish displays of cloth. Yet she chooses
to wear the wimple because of its practicality. A wimple
would have successfully protected her from the dust of the
road.
Foot Mantle and Spurs
Foot-mantle
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Foot-mantles were a kind of outer garment which tied at one's hips,
covering the woman's gown. Foot-mantles were associated with the
lower class, as only laborers would have the need of of such an item to
protect their gown from becoming soiled by their work (Hodges).
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The Wife's foot-mantle would have successfully ensured that her gown
stayed clean while on pilgrimage. However, they do not boast of her
wealth in the same way that, for instance, her scarlet hosen do. They
appear to be vulgar in nature in comparison.
Spurs
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The Wife of Bath's pilgrimage outfit is completed with the detail that on
her feet are a "paire of spores sharpe." These, like the other elements of
her pilgrimage attire, are pragmatic in nature. It has been suggested
that, combined with her foot-mantle and hat, the Wife of Bath is
attempting to portray herself as a pseudo-knight (Hodges). She is
undoubtedly a seasoned traveller, well aware of the garments
necessitated by a pilgrimage.
To sum it up!
While the two descriptions of the Wife of Bath appear initially to portray two very
different women, they are in fact united in their characterization of this
pilgrim. The coverchiefs, scarlet hosen, and new shoes that the Wife of Bath wears
on Sundays loudly proclaim her sense of self-importance, and the economic
prosperity she enjoys because of her successful cloth-making business. The broad
hat, wimple, foot-mantle and spurs state a similar truth, but in a much less obvious
way. Here is a woman so confident in herself, so secured by her wealth, that she
may sojourn on numerous pilgrimages. She wears humble, practical clothing
because she has been on so many pilgrimages, that she is knowledgeable about
how best to clothe oneself for them. In this way, her pilgrimage attire bespeaks
her cosmopolitan nature, which corroborates with her Sunday clothing.
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/garmentsinthecanterburytales/wife_of_bath
Sooo….Chaucer is saying…?
Write a CLAIMS PARAGRAPH in which you identify what the SATIRIC NORM is
that Chaucer is revealing in his portrait of the Wife of Bath. You must have a
well-developed argument in which you have linear reasoning that is supported
with a minimum of two textual references from the literary text and one textual
reference from the informational article. Min 10 sentences.
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Organize your claim according to the following outline:
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State your claim for authorial intention in which you identify the satirical norm
that the Wife of Bath represents
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Provide thorough context to build the foundation for your argument
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Instill 3 direct quotes to support your claim
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Pull your findings together with a fresh, final point