Attitudes Towards Women in Fragment VII of Canterbury Tales :: Canterbury Tales Essays

Attitudes Towards Women in Fragment VII of Canterbury Tales One of the most dramatic themes in Fragment VII of the Canterbury Tales is the attitudes of the pilgrims towards women. There are two searching sides in the dispute that women are simply objects of lust that must never be trusted, and that women are highly respectable and loving. The Shipmans Tale starts off this logical argument with his depiction of women, which was less than favorable. The woman who is depicted in this tale is the wife of a merchant. She is not treated well by her husband, but surely is not trust deservingy or honorable herself. She sells her body to the best familiarity of her husband for a measly 100 francs. Her faithfulness to her husband was worth only a few extravagant garments for her to wear. It is her greed for these material goods that drives her into cuckolding her trusting husband. Her worldly desires are more important than her marriage, and in the end she is precisely punished at all. She does manage to keep her husband from finding out, by saying that the Monk was simply repaying his debt and she used the money to buy nigh clothes. So, she gets away with a crime that would have dealt her a far greater punishment. This outcome, while it certainly wasnt perfect for the wife, was much less than she deserved. The Prioress steps in with the next tale, and takes a much different view. The Prioress herself is a very humble and well-mannered woman, as she is described in the cosmopolitan Prologue. She is also extremely compassionate towards all of Gods creatures. Her tale is a testimony to the greatest woman of all, the Virgin Mary. While it is a tribute to the Virgin, the localise of the story is more on the little boy and his widowed bewilder. The mother is greatly distressed at her sons disappearance, and is eventually led by the Nazarene himself to the place where her son has been tossed. The idea that Jesus himself was consorting with this woman and answering her prayers makes a strong statement. Jesus certainly would not aid an evil person, so this widow must have been virtuous and humble.