Base your New Year’s resolutions on your favorite characters. I look to the Wife of Bath.
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Tag Archives: Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer’s Solution for Sexual Assault
What are we to do about all of our sexual assaulters, given that they probably number in the thousands? Chaucer’s Wife of Bath has an answer.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Al Franken, Bill Clinton, Charlie Rose, Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K., Roy Moore, sexual assault, sexual harassment, Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Comments closed
Trump in Chaucer, Shakespeare & Conrad
When compared to people called “dotard” in Chaucer and Shakespeare, Trump fits the insult hurled at him by Kim Jong-un. His statement to African leaders, meanwhile, makes him sound like a “Heart of Darkness” ivory trader.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Africa, Capitalism, Donald Trump, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, Kim Jong-un, King Lear, Wife of Bath, William Shakespeare Comments closed
A Literary History of the Insult “Cuck”
“Cuck” has become a favorite insult amongst alt-right types. In today’s post I trace literary references to cuckolds going back to Chaucer.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged alt-right, As You Like It, Canterbury Tales, Christopher Marlowe, Country Wife, cuckold jokes, cuckolds, cuckservatives, Doctor Faustus, Donald Trump, Miller's Tale, Othello, William Shakespeare, William Wycherley Comments closed
Chaucer’s Wife, an Early Gaslighter
Donald Trump’s non-ending falsehoods have sometimes been described as “gaslighting,” after the old Charles Boyer-Ingrid Bergman film. An early literary example of a gaslighter is Chaucer’s Wife of Bath, although her use of the tactic is far more justifiable.
We Mooste Calle Him “Hende Donald”
Donald Trump’s self-admitted sexual assaults resemble those of the university student in Chaucer’s “Miller’s Tales.” Hende Nicholas, however, is far more respectful of his lady love.
With Brexit, UK Betrayed Spirit of Chaucer
Brexit violates everything that Geoffrey Chaucer, Britain’s quintessential poet, stood for.
The Wife of Bath & U.S. Race Wars
A racial flair-up at our college has given me an opportunity to stress the relevance of the Wife of Bath’s prologue and tale. Like our African American students, she too feels disrespected. One has to dig beneath her seeming confidence to realize how vulnerable she feels, however.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Confederate flag, microaggressions, racism, Wife of Bath Comments closed