The Prioress by Chaucer

The image of a nun should be represented by love, humility and peace because they are the face of the church and they represent God’s love on the earth. Chaucer describes the Prioress as “Who was very simple and modest in her smiling;”(The General Prologue, 119).However he also talks how this Prioress was not the perfect nun in a convent, one example of this is in the Mini-lecture on The Prioress, it states “She is elegant and wears jewelry. Her rosary has a brooch on it made of gold with the worded motto in Latin that reads: Amor Vincit Omnia, love conquers all, which can be understood as the love of God” (lines 8-10). The way this Prioress behaved, was different from the other nuns, she was a person who liked to have a sophisticated life; she was so elegant specially the way she used to eat. She had some small hounds and her behavior was not the most appropriate for a nun. In my previous post Wife of Bath I talked about Allison who as the Prioress was a sophisticated woman, she liked to have elegant dresses and she also was a woman with good manners.

The Nun's Priest's Tale by Chauser

The Nun’s Priest’s is a tale about a widow who had a life full of difficulties and misfortunes. She was a poor peasant woman, advanced in age who was living in a small cottage. Her life was very difficult she had to provide for herself and her two daughters. She didn’t have enough food to eat only what was produced on her land the story state “Milk and dark bread, in which she found no lack, Broiled bacon, and sometimes an egg or two, For she was, as it were, a sort of dairywoman”(lines 2844-2846). She had 3 cows, 3 large sows1 sheep that she called Malle, 7 hens and one cock called Chauntecleer who was the king of the henhouse. In one of my previous post The Clerk’s Tale, I talked about Griselda who before to get married with a rich man face a lot of difficulties and misfortune. I believe Griselda and this widow represent the image of the poor women during the Middle Age, however their lives were different because Griselda had her father and they worked together to feed themselves with what they harvested, but this poor widow did not have anybody to help her. The Nun’s Priest’s widow face a lot of difficulties in her life, however to be poor did not stop her to dance and be a happy woman.   

Women and Wills During the Middle Age

The wills during the Middle Age were used as an important document where the husbands left written records specifying what was going to happen with their money after their death. Thanks to the wills a lot of widows during the medieval times were protected.  “A husband who made his wife an executor, as many wives were, indicates that he not only trusted but that he trusted her capacity to understand the intricacies of his business dealing, debts owed to him and those he owed to others”(Women and Wills, p1). One example of wills in one of my previous post “Wife of Bath” where I talked about Allison a woman who got marriage five times which gave her the opportunity to inherit money from all of her husbands. However not all of the widows inherited money from their husbands, because there were some husbands that did not have money and for that reason they couldn’t leave anything to their wives.

The Femme Sole

Thanks to the Femme Sole the women during the Middle Age had the opportunity to work; it gave the women the legal right to work. “The term femme sole, simply put, referred to women who conducted business on their own. The term's application extended far beyond its literal translation of "woman alone" or "single woman" to encompass married women who conducted their own businesses apart from their husbands” (Western Carolina University, p1). One example of this is in one of my previous post about “Wife of Bath”, I talk about Alison a woman who got marry five times and thanks to her Femme Sole status she could have her own business after her husbands died.

Wife of Bath by Chauser

The Wife of Bath by Chaucer is a story where the author describes the life of a woman during the Middle Age who was a wife and widow at the same time. Allison was a woman who used her intelligence to get everything she wanted. She got married five times which gave her the opportunity to inherit money from all of her husbands. Her personality, the money she inherited, and the way she used to talk and dress up helped her to get the power she wanted. She only used her husbands to get everything she wanted, the story states “Uses sexual politics to get what she wants in the relationship. What Alison wants most from her marriages is power and by bargaining sexual favors with her husband she appropriates a certain amount of power” (Mini-Lecture: Wife of Bath, lines10-13). In one of my previous post about “The Shipman’s Tale” I talk about a woman that was very similar to Alison because they both used sexual politics and intelligence to get money from men.

Margaret Paston and the Landed Gentry

This story portrays a clear image about the duties of a wife during the Middle Age. Margaret Paston was only 18 years old when she got married. Her husband John Paston was always traveling because “Husbands of the upper middle class were frequently required to serve the king, acting as his representative in London and abroad and landowners’ business interests often took them away from their country estates to towns, cities and even abroad”( Margaret Paston and the Landed Gentry, p1), for that reason the husbands  had leave their wives in charge of their business. During his absences Margaret was responsible to take control over her husband’s businesses and the house’s administration. Unfortunately, it was not an easy work for Margaret because she had to cooke hand and bacon, preserve fruits and bake bread. She also had to act as her husband’s agent in the country, had to collect the rent, manage the staff and tenants. Margaret found this task so difficult because she was too young, she did not have the experience doing this and giving orders to other men. It was very common that during the Middle Age the wife took care of her husband’s business, sometimes because her husband had to serve the king or because her husband died. During the Middle Age a lot of women did not have husband because they were married old men who died before them, and as a result of this they had to be man and woman in their homes. In one of my post about “ How the Good Wife Taught Her Daughter” I talk about  a mother who advise her daughter about the importance of taking care of her husband’s money, and working together to increase it. I think Margaret Paston is a good example of a good daughter that listen her mother because she was only 18 years old without experience about business, and she was working hard to take care of her husband’s money.  

How the Good Wife Taught Her Daughter Edited by George Shuffelton

This story talks about how a mother during Middle Age was responsible to teach her daughter about everything she had to know to be a good wife. Married women were required to follow the traditions during medieval times, one of the ways they represented it was following their mother advice of not doing inappropriate things that could affect their reputation and relationship. One example of this tradition is in the poem “How the Goodwife Taught her Daughter” it states “For no covetys no giftys thou take;/ Bot thou wyte why, sone them forsake. / For gode women with gyftys/ Men ther honour fro them lyftys” (goodwife taught her daughter 91-94). This is an advice from the mother to her daughter, it talks about that the woman must not accept gifts from men because they will steal woman’s honor with gift.  This poem also talk about how important was that the women took care of the money, the mothers during Middle Age used to advised their daughters about the importance of saving their husband’s money and working together to increase it. For the goodwife during medieval times was very important that her daughter followed her advises of how to respect her husband and be a good wife. However, not all of the married women during the Middle Age were following the traditions and behaved the same way, because in my previous post “The Shipman’s Tale”, I talked about a wife who was not taking care of her husband money and was having sex with her husband’s best friend to get money. This wife is not a good example of a daughter who was following her mother’s advice. I believe that when the interest of a woman to get what she wants is above her dignity, she will lost something very important the respect for herself.

The Shipman's Tale by Chauser

 

This story describes a married woman who was using her intelligence and physical attractiveness to control men and get money from them. This story show us how a woman who was married with a merchant, was having sex with her husband’s best friend to get money, for her the money was more important than love and be loyal to her husband. This wife lied to her husband’s best friend (the monk) telling him that she was having trouble to get his money, she states “On next Sunday I must of necessity pay A hundred franks, or else I am lost. Yet I would rather that I were never born Than a disgrace or dishonor were done to me; And also if my husband might discover it, I would be as good as lost; and therefore I pray you, Lend me this sum, or else I must die”(The Shipman’s Tale, 180-186). This story portrays a different image from other stories about married women during the Middle Age, for example in my previous post about the story of Griselda a woman who swore to obey her husband no matter what, she always respect and did what her husband said because it was an important tradition during the Middle Age.

The Comportment Texts

The women are an important part of the family, however I consider the rules in the Comportment text are not fair because everything should be equal when it talks about men or women. One of the part that called my attention reading the comportment text was “Le Ménagier de Paris (c. 1385) it states “written by an aging husband to his fifteen year old wife. He stresses obedience and chastity and offers explicit instructions on running a household, including an extensive cookbook”.(comportment text, p2), this called my attention because this husband was talking about obedience and chastity to his wife, a woman who was only 15 years old and who could be his daughter. I think the rule in this texts are impossible to uphold because the women were treated as servants who did not have any right, and they were only slaves who had to do everything their husband said. An example of this is in one of my post “The Clerk’s Tale”, I talk about the story of Griselda a woman who was treated as a servant by her husband. She could not do any important decision not even about her own children because the only thing she could do was to obey and everything her husband said. Thanks God, the society today is very different the men are valuing more their wives and women are having the same opportunities as men for example they can go to school, work and make important decisions. Unfortunately, there are some countries that women are still treated as servant some of them are in the Middle East, where women have to cover their faces when they are going to the street.

The Clerk's Tale by Chauser

When the women are raised thinking that they are not important and the main thing in their lives should be to serve and obey their husband, they lose something very important, their freedom and the things they love. The story of Griselda shows us a clear image about the life of a married woman during medieval times. During the Middle Ages the married women were considered inferior to their husband and did not have the right to make important decisions about their children. They were dominated by their husband, had to serve them, obey and do everything they said. The image of the womanhood that is represented in this story is how patient and obey were the women to their husband during the Middle Age, because Griselda was a poor woman who was tested in so many horrific ways by her husband Walter and she always obeyed and did everything he said. One example of this was when in the story Walter told Griselda he was going to kill her daughter and she didn’t do anything to stop him. Another example was when Walter told Griselda he was going to send her son to live with his sister, and Griselda obediently respond: “ “I have,” said she, “said thus, and every shall: I want nothing, nor will not want any thing, But as you desire. It does not grieve me at all, Thought my daughter and my son be slain-- At your commandment, this is to say. I have no had any part of children two But fist sickness, and after, woe and pain. “you are our lord; do with your own thing Right as you desire; ask no advice from me”(Clerk’s Tale, 645-653). She supported her husband’s decision to obey and please him. As a mother, I can imagine how this poor woman was feeling without being able to do anything to save her children. However, Griselda was doing everything that a married woman during the Middle Age was supposed to do, because to obey and to serve the husband was an important tradition during medieval times. One example of this is in one of my post“ The Comportment Text”, where I talk about the rule that every married women during the Middle Age had to follow, some of them are  to serve and obey their husband, respect and do everything they wanted. Thanks God, the life of a married woman today is different because they can make important decision about themselves and their children.

　

　

The Name of the Rose by Jean-Jacques Annaud

The daily life of a lower class women in the Middle Ages was hard, the movie “The Name of the Rose” portrays a clear image about medieval times, religion and women. The women did not play a significant role, the church was the main power it had the control over poor people. The image that is represented in this movie about womanhood is that the women were treated as nothing, were poor and used as a sexual object for the monks. One example in the movie is a young girl who was going to have sex with one of the monk because she did not have anything to eat and was going to exchange sexual favor for food. For me was very sad to see how a beautiful young girl had to use the only thing she had her body, to get something to eat. Unfortunately, today this still affecting the womanhood because there are situations that push the women to use their bodies to get things they need, sometimes it can be only to protect themselves or to protect their children.