(Hansen 275) I believe that once again Chaucer is using the Wife as an expression of his antifeminist agenda by showing how this answer to what women want is the perceived answer of a male author trying to personify his thoughts in a woman fictional character. ... Throughout her prologue, the Wife of Bath makes it clear that she intends for the reader or listener to view her as a rational, independent woman. ... God help me so, I was to him as kinde As any wif from Denmark unto Inde, And also trewe and so was he to me. (828-31) She thinks that she has achieved mutual power and respect....

• Word Count: 1773
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Likewise, the gender category man (that is, the so-called "masculine" gender automatically assigned to members of the male sex) carries with it a very different set of expectations about how to act, what to do and who to love: Men are assumed to be more active and dominant than women, and are seen to be rational, objective individuals. ... Gender is very much about how people perceive us, and our behaviour (personality, identity and self-expression) determines how we will be "perceived." ...

• Word Count: 3294
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: High School