Equality

October 17, 4:14 AMHouston Feminism and Relationships ExaminerJenna Conlin

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The Wife of Bath
http://www.maidenhead-drama.co.uk/past/canterbury.html

For British Literature class, we were reading The Canterbury Tales. I came across something interesting in The Wife of Bath’s Tale. In the tale, a knight rapes a maiden and steals her virginity. He is condemned to death until the Queen tells him, “Yet, you shall live if you can answer me; what is the thing that women most desire?” The knight goes in search of the answer to the question in order to keep his life. Eventually, he gets the answer and presents it to the Court. His answer is as follows:
“A woman wants self-same sovereignty over her husband as over her lover,
and master him; he must not be above her…”
The Wife of Bath concludes her tale with the statement: “Cast down the lives of men who will not be governed by their wives” (1).
How much of this is true? Of all the attempts to get to the root of women, this story is one of the closest. It is impossible to lump the desires of women into one neat little bundle but if we could, equality in a relationship may top the list.
So, what does it mean to achieve equality in a relationship? Whether in a homosexual or heterosexual relationship, there is an issue of gender roles. There is nothing wrong with traditional gender roles as long as it is the individual woman’s choice to fulfill that role. If a woman finds satisfaction in fulfilling a house-wife role, that is wonderful so long as that was her choice and her choice only. Since the beginning of the feminist movement, breaking the gender roles of women has been the primary focus. However, more emphasis should be put on stressing the importance of personal choice. This is the first step in achieving equality. When a woman makes her own choices in her life and her relationships, she is as equal as her partner.
Geoffrey Chaucer provides wonderful insight into the deepest desires of women in the Wife of Bath’s tale. Even having been written in the fourteenth century, this tale’s feministic message remains applicable and insightful in modern day society. Equality means having freedom of choice and every human being should be entitled to that.

1. Geoffrey, Chaucer,. Canterbury tales. London: Penguin Books, 2003.