Analysis of the characterisation of “The woman besides Bath”

The present work is meant to analyse the strategies the poet uses to characterise the character of the woman from besides Bath.

The most important strategy the poet uses in the characterisation of the woman is the irony, indeed irony is a figure of speech that consists of telling something to meant its exact opposite. Indeed Chaucer tone’s in the extract is mildly satirical and humorous, as he highlight how her behaviour actually contradicts the responsibility of her position in the monastery (she is the prioress)

Besides, to presence the character the poet uses the telling technique, indeed there’s a narrator that tells about the woman.

The poet starts connoting the character with the adjective worthy, that makes the reader understand the woman is a commendable person of a high social abstraction. Then he goes on using the strategy of the physical appearance, he says the woman id a bit deaf, that can be also a metaphor that refers to her arrogance, while the expression “in making clothes she showed so great a bent she bettered those of Ypres and of Ghent” makes the reader understand the woman is very able in weaving,  in this way the poet seems underline even more her pride. The attention of the reader is drawn to this feature of the woman by the rhyme bent-Ghent.

Later the poet goes on connoting the character using the strategy of the woman’s behaviour and the expression “in all the parish…put out of charity” and in particular the verb dared and the expression “put out of charity” highlight one more time the arrogance and insolence of the woman, that wants to be the first in everything, as in weaving as in going to the altar.

Later on the poet uses the strategy of the woman’s look and thanks to the expressions “her kerchiefs were of the finely woven ground” and “her hose were of the finest scarlet red” and in a particular way the adjective finely and the superlative adjective the finest makes the reader understand the woman wears expensive clothes, that underlines even more the noble social abstraction of the character. Besides, because of the woman likes wearing showy feminine clothes the intelligent reader can suppose she loves  being at the centre of the attention.

After that the poet uses one other time the strategy of the physical appearance, the expressions “handsome and red in hue” creates in the reader’s mind an idea of elegance, while the adjective “bold” disturbs the picture, connoting even more the arrogance of the character, that thinks to be the best woman in the world.

In the fifteenth line the poet uses another time the adjective worthy, highlighting even more the woman is a commendable person, while the expression “what’s more … at the church door” makes initially the reader think the character is a pious woman conforming to Christian precepts. Yet this idea of the character is broken by the expression “apart from…forsooth”, that creates a contrast between her position in the monastery and her behaviour towards the religion’s principles. Moreover the lines from the twentieth to the twenty-third and in particular the expression “and she was skilled in wandering by the way” makes the reader understand the woman enjoys life pleasures, in this case travelling, therefore creating another contrast with the religious principles. After that the poet uses another time the woman’s look, and the expression “well wimpled up” reminds to the reader that the character, despite her behaviour towards the religious principles, is a prioress.

Later the expression “in company she liked to laugh and chat” underlines even more the character enjoys the pleasures of the life, while the expression “the remedies for love’s mischances, an art in which she knew the oldest dances” makes the reader suppose she had a misadventure in the love field that changed her and that it could be the cause of his arrogant and bossy behaviour.