In this case, Penelope is seen as smart and cunning, and she is being faithful to her husband and at the same time, she does not have to blatantly disrespect the suitors. At the time this was written, it was almost impossible for a woman of her stature to avoid remarrying immediately. Another way that Penelope is seen as loyal and exceptional as a woman is the test that she gives Odysseus when he returns home in disguise. .
Make up his bed for him, Eurykleia.
Place it outside the bedchamber my lord.
Built with his own hands. Pile the big bed.
With fleeces, rugs, and sheets of purest linen.
(23.180-83).
After Odysseus becomes enraged when Penelope asks the maid to make his bed outside, she realizes that he knows the secret that only Odysseus and her share. She embraces him and praises his homecoming. Once again, Penelope is wise and patient in her decision-making. The suitors pursued her, overtook her home and aggressively pushed her to remarry as she was supposed to. If Penelope would have given in, The Odyssey would not have ended with Odysseus returning to a loyal home. Through cunning, independence and loyalty, Penelope is able to create a positive image as a woman. Chaucer's Wife of Bath has similar independence and cunning, but she makes her name as a domineering lady that chooses who she wants, and when she wants them.
During the time period in which Chaucer wrote The Wife of Bath women were most commonly seen as prizes won by men. They were treated merely as objects of housework and sex. Although, women of Homer's time period were not degraded as severely, both periods did not allow the due respect women should have received. The Wife of Bath is an exact antithesis of this view. The Wife of Bath, known as Alison, is the complete opposite of the typical woman of that time. In fact, she acts more like the husband in the marriage. She tells stories of how her first three husbands suffered greatly at her hands.