ANALYSIS - A worthy woman from beside Bath

The tale "A worthy woman from beside Bath" was written by Geoffrey Chaucer around 1400. The tale is from the Canterbury Tales and the present text wants to analyse the characterization of the woman.

The poem begins repeating the title and thus defining the provenance of the woman. Thanks to the adjective and the alliteration it creates, the poet creates curiosity into the reader. Also, the reader wants to know the identity of the woman and why the speaking exploits the provenance of the subject.

The characterization starts in line three where is described her job and her skills, then her behaviour in church. In both contexts, the protagonist is respected and the speaker has explained the reason for the woman’s worthiness. Furthermore, her respectability is exalted by the alliteration "dame dared".

Moreover, the woman is described by his appearance, specifically by clothes she wears, this link to his job and wants to depict the woman from her look. She acquires gentleness thanks to the characteristics of the kerchiefs and her face.

Beginning from line 15, the woman’s character starts to decline, up to this point the text depicted the subject as a normal worthy person. Whereas the woman acquires strangeness due to the impudence of the protagonist in church, indeed he has five husbands and polygamy is not welcomed by Christianity. Moreover, the reader understands she is a woman desired by many men and maybe beautiful.

The woman is described as a wondering person who also enjoys travelling. The protagonist is rich perhaps. However, the characterization becomes definitely ironical because the woman is ugly due to his teeth but she managed to have many men and her hygiene is bad even if she is rich.

Then, she is characterized as a crude woman that is dirty and rude, furthermore she seems to be able to be easily taken by passions and love.