Example Of Attitude Towards Sex And Marriage In Millers Tale And Wife Of Baths Tale Essay

There are two significant tales, Miller’s and Wife of Bath’s that stand out from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer for astonishing depiction of eternal problems of love, marriage and sex. The issues of love affairs have always excited people’s minds and hearts both now and always. Chaucer touches upon the majority of the important questions connected with marriage, reveals lustful and sly nature of the dishonest people. Both tales describe liberal attitude and disregard towards marriage and sex.
Firstly, it should be said that in both tales the liberal attitude and disrespect towards the institution of marriage takes place. In Miller’s tale the problem is shown on the example of John and Alison’s marriage, which can be considered classical as the husband is much older, than his beautiful wife and thus he is afraid to lose her: “He was jealous, and held her closely caged, for she was young, and he was much older and judged himself likely to be made a cuckold.” The fact that Alison easily yields to Nicholas’s persuasion to have some love affair shows, how insignificant marriage is for her and that she is ready even for cruel deception of her husband. For that reason Alison and Nicholas create an alliance against John and this fact shows Alison’s disregard towards her husband and marriage: “gentle Nicholas and Alison had agreed upon this, that Nicholas would create a ruse to beguile this poor jealous husband” In addition, the reader can find out the detracted treatment of marriage through the knight’s attitude towards his marriage in Wife of Bat’s Tale: “For he wedded her secretly the next morning.” By these words the author shows that he was so ashamed of his old and foul wife appreciating only appearances in girls, but not the soul. The ugliness of his old wife prevented him from finding out his inner beauty, and only when she turned to be young and pretty he could enjoy her company: “And when the knight saw truly that she was so fair and so young, he clasped her in his two arms for joy, his heart bathed in a bath of bliss”
Finally, in both tales the issue of sex misconduct is raised. In Miller’s Tale Nicholas’s lecherous intentions are revealed from the very beginning and are expressed by the following words: “And secretly he caught hold of her genitalia” It is clear that for him only the physical component of love is important. Furthermore, Alison expresses her disregard towards sex through The same can be said about “a lusty young knight” in Wife of Bath’s Tale, as it is a matter of nothing for him to rape a virgin girl: “it happened that he saw walking ahead of him a maiden, whom he ravished, in spite of all her resistance.”
Generally speaking, both stories are concentrated on the same sex and marriage issues, but describe them differently. Miller’s Tale has quite a tragic ending for the husband and marriage, as in the Wife of Bath’s Tale the knight yield to his wife and accepted her superiority and wisdom. What is more, sex misconduct is shown differently, as in the Wife of Bath’s Tale it is shown through the rape, while in the Miller’s Tale the impolite Nicholas’s attitude and Alison’s unfaithfulness takes place.