Fourteenth-century literature produced numerous characters, both major and minor, who presented allegorical issues pertinent to society. Characters that audiences have come to love (and hate) have been featured in (14th century) works such as The Divine Comedy, Katherine and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Along with these works, one of the most recognizable pieces of literature to come out of this century was Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Within this anthology text there are a myriad of different characters who all have a common reason for being united in one environment; a pilgrimage. Chaucer depicts many social and social issues through the actions of his different characters. One of these characters, the Queen, is introduced in the story "The Wife of Bath" and her character stirs up a lot of action in the story. Although his role can be considered small compared to other main characters in all the stories told in the Canterbury Tales, his personality and actions speak for themselves through Chaucer's poetic creations. His power and position in the social hierarchy help establish his character. While Middle English audiences popularized the tale "The Wife of Bath," it should be remembered that the Queen helped distinguish this story from others. If one were to examine the queen's power in a different literary period, such as the Victorian era of the nineteenth century, one would find that the queen's character would be viewed from a pessimistic point of view. While fourteenth century audiences accepted the queen, it was believed that nineteenth century audiences were not as accepting of this queen character due to the great power this woman held in this society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Middle English literature comprises one of the first great advertisements of the English language. Much of the literature of the 14th century was intended for educated readers who were fluent in the English language and unable to speak Latin or French. Anthologies became popular in this time period as French works could finally be translated into English. The organization and collection of stories in The Canterbury Tales mimics the structure of an anthology. The Middle English short story "Wife of Bath" incorporates much history and tradition into its lines of text. While the Middle English style was inspired by the French, the story's themes were inspired by the daily lives of 14th-century English citizens. Society during this time period had many concerns about sex, war, and disease. Illegal activities such as rape were considered a crime and had very serious consequences, such as death. War and disease (such as the Black Death) overwhelmed populations in the 14th century, making these two topics major topics of interest in Middle English literature (Simpson and David 13-15). In “The Wife of Bath” there are many instances where sex is addressed by the main character of the story. Geoffrey Chaucer was, however, a fan of Latin literature. His inspiration helped him form his pose in his works. In terms of developing his story, Chaucer supposedly: drew on a centuries-old tradition of misogynistic writing that was particularly cultivated by the medieval church. In their belief that the rational, intellectual, spiritual, and, therefore, higher side of human nature predominated in men, while the irrational, material, earthly, and, therefore, lower side of human nature predominated in women” (Simpson & David 230 ).Chaucer's exploration into misogynistic writing helped inspire the backstory of the main character of “The Wife of Bath,” but it gives great power to a minor character, the queen. Yet, this story (within a series of stories) has been accepted in society. By creating a character capable of leading a land full of chaos and…death, it helps reaffirm how much authority and power the Queen must have. Under her rule, she shows how society accepted women as rulers. In the story "The Wife of Bath", the queen punishes the knight's crime of rape by having him solve a very simple, yet difficult question. The knight in the tale serves as an allegory of men who enjoyed sex in the 14th century. By asking the knight a very difficult question, the Queen is seen as assertive and powerful as she is one of the few people who possesses the answer. She uses her power and authority to send him on a difficult mission as a means of punishment to find the answer, instead of killing him. The queen tells the knight that: “I thank you if you can tell me what women want most: make war and keep your nekke boon away from Iren. And if you cannot tell me one day, I will give you a pass to go on a twelfth month and a day to search and read” (Chaucer 250). During the knight's journey, he has twelve months and one day to figure out what women desire most. The author uses the knight to reveal to the audience the most important things in the minds of women during the 14th century. Learn that wealth, honor, pleasure, flattery/attention, reliability are all things women like, but not the actual number one thing women want most. Towards the final moments of his journey, he finally discovers the true answer given to him by a woman. Sovereignty is what women desire most. The fact that Chaucer asked a woman to answer one of the most difficult questions of the 14th century shows how he believes that women are capable of being knowledgeable and powerful enough to know something that men do not. The knight's search in history is an example of romantic literature, that is, when the person seeks a question/action to satisfy, and poetic tools such as iambic pentameter (Knapp) are inserted in this text. Knowing that the principle of sovereignty is what women desire most, Chaucer tells his audience that women aspire to have more power in society. All the events (pertaining to the knight) in "The Wife of Bath" were all thanks to the queen and the power she implemented. While 14th century audiences were intrigued and entertained by the characters of "The Wife of Bath" in The Canterbury Tales, 19th century (Victorian era) audiences may not have had the same conviction. Middle English literature contains different messages for Victorian audiences as the work predates it by five centuries. The Victorian period occurred between 1830 and the early 1900s. The literature of these years can be described as a mixture of romanticism and realism. In the early stages of this time period, poetry was one of the most popular forms of literature read by the public. Poetry collections were popular, but not as popular as anthologies were in Middle English times. Victorian literature, the scientific innovations of printing, and the distribution of serialized novels flourished. The nineteenth century was crucial to history as scientific advances began to cause people to question the legitimacy of the church. Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution made people think twice about what the church had to offer (Dinscore 197-199). Along with this religious debacle, one of the mostnotable about this time period is the way women were treated. They were given little, if any, power to do the things they wanted. Men of this period were the leader of the home and the leader in their work environment. This is reminiscent of the misogyny that Chaucer once explored in preparation for The Canterbury Tales. Furthermore, in the Victorian era, characters in stories placed a lot of weight on what society thought of them. Their social position was important to them (Dinscore 198). While there may have been progress in technology, there has been greater regression in terms of gender stratification. Ultimately, this style and content of writing are strongly at odds with the tenets of the Middle English era. The story of Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath" contrasts with much Victorian-era literature because it was intended for a Middle English audience. Given that power was such an important part of Victorian life, you might think that Chaucer's power demonstrated in “The Wife of Bath” would please the audience, but this is not the case. The type power that Victorian literature best described concerned a character's social position, unlike the Middle English monarchical power described by Chaucer. The Queen would have disturbed the public as she has monarchical power over the country and is not afraid to do what she thinks is right for her people. The Queen valued justice, unlike the Victorians valued social standing. Victorians would have had difficulty relating to a character who is ignorant of what people think of her. Contemporary critics of “The Wife of Bath” assert that “the queen's judicial power in the tale is appropriated and fundamentally illegitimate, that she maintains a false pose of sovereignty when taking control of the ruling” (Thomas 88) and would not be d 'deal for nineteenth-century audiences. The Victorians would have criticized this woman (the queen) for not only ruling, but also asking a man to undertake a quest. Scholar JR Watson states that “women, with some exceptions, were thought to be less capable of the intellectual effort required” (Watson 12), thus supporting the idea that men are more capable of leading and demanding. There may also have been discontent among nineteenth-century audiences that the Queen allowed the knight such a long time to complete his quest. The Victorians might have criticized the time it took to travel as they lived in a time with better transportation and resources. Male readers especially would have wondered how stable sovereignty could be under a woman (referring to the Queen). They may also have wondered whether the crime of rape committed by the knight was really a crime and actually a misunderstanding. This audience would have liked to know where the king was in the story. Grammatically speaking, it would have been a challenge for Victorian readers of “The Wife of Bath” to even understand Geoffrey Chaucer's language and poetic style. The words were written differently and the way he depicts some of his female characters as contributors to society may have frustrated Victorian readers as men were considered the superior sex. When the knight learned about the (incorrect) things women supposedly loved most in life, all the things he learned made it seem like women were more demanding rather than fulfilling their requests. All in all, the Queen's power would have troubled the Victorian public as they believed that men should make all the rules and demands, not the woman. In conclusion, the story of “The Wife of Bath” is an effort that embodies Geoffrey Chaucer.