Romello J. Lovinsky
COL Miller
ERH-205WX-02
28 April 2018
Help Received: The Canterbury Tales, Henry V, and The Man Who Would Be King
Word Count: 1150
Marriage in British Culture
British literature from the 1300’s to the 1800’s contained a plethora of messages illustrating and reflecting British culture. Throughout British culture marriage was a primary way to improve one’s social standing, and the largest struggle in marriage was the struggle to determine a power balance between the man and the woman. Over time, marital respect for women slowly declined, and the basis of marriage transitioned to be driven solely by social influence.
The Canterbury Tales focused on the period ranging from the 1300’s to 1400’s, where the marital power struggle between men and women grew to become an issue. In this story, both the Clerk and the Wife of Bath had a chance to speak, giving both the male and female perspective on the issue.
The Clerk’s Tale focused on the man being the dominant gender in the relationship. It stated that the best wife was one that took on a role of submissiveness. The Clerk tells the story of a lord who by the request of his people must find a wife. The lord puts this potential wife through several tests to prove her worthiness. These tests, cruel and unusual, were not typically administered to a woman whom had potential to be a wife. The lord began the relationship with respect and asked the woman’s father for his blessing. However, over time, as the tests were conducted, that initial respect diminished. Even through the tests the woman never thought to abandon her love for the lord; the lord, upon his realization of this fact, began to treat her better. He reasoned that a woman deserved to be treated with respect after proving that she fits the characteristics of a good wife. These characteristics being that she was submissive, patient, and able to persevere through the hardships a marriage would bring.
The Wife of Bath had a different perspective on who was the dominant gender in a marriage. The Wife of Bath’s tale began with a knight who did not have a handle on life, and made many mistakes leading up to his final punishment. His punishment was to discover what woman desired most in the world. After a long and hard search, the man came upon a woman who had the answer the lord desired. What women desired most in the world was to be in control of their husbands. He was to present his findings to a public audience with her in attendance, however what she hid from him was that she her plan was to ask for his hand in marriage. He reluctantly agreed to this marriage, proving that she did have some sort of control over him and soon after was faced with another question. This one being whether he would like for the woman to remain old and ugly or become young and beautiful. Respecting the old lady, he once again answered the question correctly; leaving the choice up to her. His answer worked in his favor when the old lady magically turned young and beautiful. Once again, the lord benefited from giving her control over the choice in a situation. The moral of this story being that if a husband or man is compliant and respectful to his woman the marriage will work in his favor.
Henry V, taking place in the 1500’s, a slightly later time in history than the Canterbury Tales, showed once again the affect marriage has on social influence and social wealth. In this novel, King Henry and his people were at war with the French. After victory, to secure future control of the French throne King Henry requested that he marry Katherine, who was of French noble decent. This marriage, which would produce a son, would secure the succession of the French throne to the Henry family name, the son of King Henry and Katherine. King Henry did not fully respect the women’s request because she did not have a full say in the marriage. Katherine also did not want to kiss before the marriage because she felt that it was against standards. King Henry kissed her anyway, stating that they make the standards, therefore, this kiss would be the standard. Despite all of his mistakes he eventually got the respect aspect right and won over her affection. This showed that with mutual respect, a marriage can be beneficial to both parties in the end. The main moral of this story is not a marriage working out, but that marriage was a prevalent way to increase social wealth in the British culture. King Henry’s social wealth was increased by securing the succession of the French throne to his family name through marriage that yielded a son.
In the time period of the 1800’s, “The Man Who Would Be King” was written, this story also containing a similar message. Within this story was the message that marriage could secure future wealth but without a respect for the women all could fall apart. Dravot worked so hard to obtain the status as King of a land and he lost it all. He lost his power over the land because he requested for a wife even after Peachey and the priests of the land strongly suggested against it. The woman was opposed to the marriage and his closest advisors advised against it, however, he still decided to continue on with the ceremony. His ignorance led to the women exposing him for who he was, which was not the god he claimed to be, and his dynasty fell apart in front of his eyes. Dravot did not achieve the social wealth he hoped of securing which would come from a son who would secure throne for future generations. He did not respect the woman or the people closest to him and that is why he failed. In Dravot’s eyes marriage was the key to his future success because it would yield a son that who would take the throne. He did not make the right choices and learned a key lesson in the end.
These works of literature all present the same idea moral idea; Marriage is influenced by a desire for social wealth and the approach taken to handle the power balance between men and women will affect the outcome of marriage. This is a moral idea that maintained consistency across several time periods. It is apparent however that as time passed the respect men had for woman in marriage gradually declined. This declination negatively affected the success of the male counterpart in the marriage or relationship in British culture.
Work Cited
Chaucher, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Oxford Worlds Classic. 2011.
Kipling, Rudyard. “The Man Who Would Be King” (Penguin Classic). Penguin Books, 2011.
Shakespeare, William. Henry V. Claire McEachern, Volume 3, Penguin Group, 1999.