Chaucer's Depiction of Women Through a Feminist Lens

This book analyses five of Chaucer¿s tales from a twenty-first century feminist perspective, namely The Wife of Bath¿s Tale, The Prioress's Tale, The Second Nun¿s Tale, The Franklin¿s Tale and The Merchant¿s Tale, plus their respective prologues and their character portraits in The General Prologue. In doing so, it demonstrates how Chaucer¿s treatment of women was progressive for his time. Chaucer's women rebel against society's expectations of the female ideal and seek empowerment in the male dominated society. Chaucer's depiction of these female protagonists bestows medieval women with autonomy, intelligence and an ability to manipulate men to better their own position in society. This is illustrated by the women's characterisation and their positions within the institution of marriage and the religious order. Chaucer's widely recognised ability to grant the reader interpretative power enables his writing to transcend time. Interpreted today, the modern reader is able to overlay a twenty-first century perspective to conceive the medieval poet as a proto-feminist.