Canterbury Tales Essay Example

What is the fundamental part of being a woman determine who they are? Which step would it take to be an Ideal model to represent other women? Is it the goals of seeking a little of power and independence from those who belittle you? or Is it the goals that empowers other individuals without changing the version of yourself and future?  to represent women’s value and truth one must uphold and acknowledge every characteristic that define a woman. And for this reason, the hag isn’t a good representation of women.

Why the Hag Represents Women Wrong

One way the hag is a poor representation of women is because she made poor decisions that contradict her ethical values. For example, the hag offered answers to the desperate knight who wanted to escape execution from raping a female in exchange for an unknown promise which was later revealed for him to be the hag’s bride. The hag knows that the reason he married her was because he was obliged to and not of his own will.

Even when the hag asked him, he responded in a very indecisive manner  “Now fain wold I chose the best,/I ne wot in this world what I shall saye,/But do as ye list nowe, my lady gaye./The choise I put in your fist./Evin as ye wolle, I put it in your hand,/Lose me when ye list, for I am bond./I put the choise in you./Bothe body and goodes, hart, and every dele,/Is alle your own, for to by and selle-/That make I God avowel!” (WBT) This part of the tale was important because it showed how the hag took advantage of the situation into her own favors but failed to acknowledge there was still unsettling issue with the knight.

Another way the hag isn’t a good representation of women is because the hag, just like other women, is not able to comprehend emotional trauma. For instance, Chaucer’s vison was partially vague when it comes to situational cases with women in the tale. Despite the fact the knight raped a young helpless maiden, the queen and ladies of the court decide to give the knight a second chance to redeem himself with a quest. In comparison, the queen and the hag shared the same commonalties with the hag choosing to change her looks for an egotistical man who kept insulting and putting her for being old and ugly. This part of the tale was of importance because helps explains Chaucer’s thought process for lacking women emotions toward serious situation made his understanding for building of women in the story less impactful especially with the hag. 

Furthermore, the hag is a poor representation of women because the hag was portrayed and written from the perspective of a male who was Chaucer. As an illustration, Chaucer was a writer in the thirteen century who wrote for women that were considered as property to male in the society but instead wrote the hag as women who was more powerful than any women in that era. Throughout the plot of his story, He made the knight to be an essential character just like the hag but instead made judgmental situation such as the hag boasting to the queen about helping a rapist find the answer to his question.  “I taughte this answere unto the knight, /For which he plighte me his trouthe there/The firste thing I wolde him require/He wolde it do, if it laye in his might” (WBT). This was significant because It shows that Chaucer’s ideas in this tale is only a part of being woman and the rest was made up to fit his own image.

Conclusion

The hag is a poor representation of women. She made very questionable choices when it comes to knowing whether the knight was really worth saving. The author of the tale, Chaucer represented the hag as a very crafty, confident and witty person but at the same time showed her to be least passionate person. The hag was also portrayed in Chaucer own image and experience. To conclude with a quote from Anais Nin “I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.”