Tag Archives: Wife of Bath

Stories Have Always Opened Up the Future

By Robin Bates | Published: April 12, 2016

An anthropologist argues that human beings took over the world because they had the ability to compose fictions. Literature continues to point the way forward for us as a species.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Cognitive Revolution, evolution, Geoffrey Chaucer, language, stories, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

The Wife of Bath & U.S. Race Wars

By Robin Bates | Published: February 16, 2016

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, Geoffrey Chaucer, microaggressions, racism | Comments closed

The V-Word: Casting Hillary as Duessa

By Robin Bates | Published: January 5, 2016

The rightwing attacks on female sexuality have a long tradition, going back to Pliny the Elder, and include Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton. Expect the tradition to continue if Hillary Clinton is elected president.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Canterbury Tales, Faerie Queene, Geoffrey Chaucer, Hillary Clinton, Merchant's Tale, misogyny, Wife of Bath's Prologue | Comments closed

Old Lit as a Transformational Experience

By Robin Bates | Published: February 20, 2015

The power of a “King Lear” passage is a refutation of Scott Walker’s attempt to redirect higher education to “work force needs.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged culture wars, Geoffrey Chaucer, King Lear, Ronald Reagan, Scott Walker, state university system, Williams Shakespeare | Comments closed

Warning Labels for the Classics

By Robin Bates | Published: May 20, 2014

Suggestions that certain classics come with “trigger warnings” leads of the following reflection.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged censorship, Geoffrey Chaucer, Homer, Iliad, Importance of Being Earnest, John Milton, Oscar Wilde, Paradise Lost, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | Comments closed

Lit’s 10 Most Painful Marriage Proposals

By Robin Bates | Published: November 21, 2013

Literature 10 most painful marriage proposals.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Beggar's Opera, Charlotte Bronte, Daniel Defoe, Far from the Madding Crowd, Geoffrey Chaucer, Importance of Being Earnest, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, John Gay, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, Marriage, marriage proposals, Moll Flanders, Oscar Wilde, Pride and Prejudice, Thomas Hardy | Comments closed

Lit’s 10 Strongest Female Characters

By Robin Bates | Published: September 9, 2013

Who are literature’s ten strongest female characters? Here’s my list.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged As You Like It, Charlotte Bronte, Daneil Defoe, Doll's House, Geoffrey Chaucer, Henrik Ibsen, Henry James, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, Mansfield Park, Moll Flanders, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Portrait of a Lady, Scarlet Letter, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Christ’s Love for Hot Barley Bread

By Robin Bates | Published: July 29, 2012

Chaucer’s Wife of Bath may not be pure, but Jesus would appreciate her great heart.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer, Jesus, Miracle of the loaves and fishes, Religion | Comments closed

Don’t Underestimate Midsummer Madness

By Robin Bates | Published: June 20, 2012

The summer solstice and Shakespeare’s famous play appear sentimental to us today. They were not always so.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged A. S. Byatt, Children's Book, fairies, Geoffrey Chaucer, Midsummer Night's Dream, Puck, Puck of Pook's Hill, Rudyard Kipling, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, summer solstice, William Shakespeare | Comments closed