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From: Taylor Stofflet
Date: 10/19/2009
Time: 11:52:38 AM
Remote Name: 139.135.123.68
The wife of Bath makes her beliefs quite clear. She brags of the many husbands she has had, and doesn't seem to value relationships or even love for that matter. Her primary concern is her own power; she wants to prove that women can hold the power. It only makes sense that her tale describes a situation in which the women hold all the power, or are at least having their opinion valued by the man. In her tale she tells of a knight who will be killed unless he discovers what women really want from a man. The knight succeeds, but only with the help of the old woman. When posed with the question of who the knight wants as a wife, he lets her choose, thus demonstrating a case in which the woman is valued. The Merchant's tale is different, but ultimately can be compared to the Wife of Bath's tale. January never really gives May a choice in their relationship. This is very different from the previous tale. When January discovers May is cheating on him, May talks her way out of it. This is similar to the Wife of Bath's tale because the woman holds the power in the tale. The major difference in this story is that one shows an example of a man willingly giving the woman some power, and the other provides an example where the woman obtains power without consent of the man. The Franlin's tale tells a story of a perfect situation. This scenario is unlikely, is some cases does work out this way. Both the man and woman value their relationship and remain faithful and trustworthy. This tale shows a happy medum from the other two tales. That is how these three stories are intertwined. The wife of bath's tale is an extreme case where the woman is dominant, the merchant's tale is an extreme case where the man tries to hold the power, and the franklin's tale is an example of a relationship where the man and woman share power equally. All of these stories deal with the social ideals of male dominance in marriage, but other factors also play a role.