英国文学中的女性主义萌芽-《坎特伯雷故事集》中的巴斯妇分析_英语论文

The budding of feminism in English literature－On the Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales

摘要

杰弗雷·乔叟是英国中世家著名诗人，被称为“英国文学之父”，由此可见他对英国文学发展做出的贡献之杰出。而《坎特伯雷故事集》被公认为乔叟最有特色的代表作之一，而其中巴斯妇是这本故事集中最受争议的人物。这篇论文旨在分析巴斯妇在故事集中的自述来挖掘其性格特点，并且将她的一些特立独行的观点同20世纪著名女性主义者的言论观点进行对比，发现共同点，指出巴斯妇身上女性主义的萌芽。同时，在巴斯妇故事中，从字里行间也能够发现作者乔叟对其所持的态度以及他在婚姻观上体现的前瞻性。

关键词：中世纪；巴斯妇；乔叟；女性主义；坎特伯雷故事集

Abstract

Geoffery Chaucer, who is called as the Father of English poems, is one of the most famous English poets in medieval age, from which it could be found his outstanding contribution to the development of English literature. The Canterbury Tales is considered as the most distinctive masterpiece of Chaucer, in which the wife of Bath is the most controversial figure. This thesis is aimed at analyzing her speeches in this collection of tales so as to find her characteristics, and then comparing her opinions with those of some famous feminists in 20th century in order to discover similarities and the budding of feminism on the wife of Bath. Apart from this, from the tone and style in the tale of the wife of Bath, Chaucer’s attitude towards the wife of Bath could be found, which also shows his advancement in the attitude towards marriage.

Key Words: medieval age; the wife of Bath; Chaucer; feminism; The Canterbury Tales

Contents

Introduction 5

1. Geoffery Chaucer 6

1.1 Social Background 6

1.2 Masterpiece 7

2. The Wife of Bath 8

2.1 Appearance 8

2.2 Life Experience 8

2.3 Characteristics 9

3. Feminism on the wife of Bath 10

3.1 From the Aspect of View on Marriage 10

3.2 From the Aspect of Female Status in Family 11

3.3 From the Aspect of View on Female Image 13

4. Chaucer’s Attitudes 14

4.1 Chaucer’s Attitudes Towards Marriage 15

4.2 Chaucer’s Attitude Towards the Wife of Bath 15

Conclusion 16

Reference 18