Throughout "The Prologue to the Wife of Bath", Chaucer uses imagery to enhance our understanding of the character and principles of the 'marry. Chaucer uses simple but powerful metaphors such as fire and nature to increase our understanding of the wife's personality. However, some of the poem's most basic images—animals and commerce, for example—help to describe the wife's key arguments and ideas and are used to facilitate social commentary throughout the text. Many of these images would have been particularly relevant in the medieval context in which the 'Canterbury Tales' were written and would therefore have been useful in enhancing the reader/listener's understanding of the general themes of the prologue. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Analysis of the prologue to The Wife of Bath reveals the repeated use of certain metaphors that collectively create a vivid illustration of The Wife of Bath's strong and lustful personality. For example, the idea of ​​fire is regularly associated with the wife, for example "It is better to be married than brinne". Here Chaucer uses a biblical quote that the wife uses to excuse her multiple marriages; the verb "brinne" refers to an uncontrollable passion that medieval society and the Church would consider inappropriate. The wife admits to maintaining this passion, thus recognizing its lustful nature; her confession reveals to the reader the audacity of her character, she is not ashamed to admit that she is lustful even if society considers it shameful. This imagery of fire recurs throughout the text, for example, “for the peril is both the fire and the tow to be gathered.” Regarding the broader meaning of this fire imagery, it is questionable whether Chaucer is using it to create a character who conforms to the medieval stereotype of women as lecherous, thus conveying a broadly anti-feminist message, or whether, to through the lack of shame for his fiery and passionate personality, he suggests that this is not something society should condemn. Chaucer, through the wife, regularly uses images of nature, particularly seeds, fruits, and flowers, as a symbol of the wife's sexual activities. ; she excuses her numerous sexual relations by reconciling them with something natural. For example, she observes that “if there was no seed in you, virginity, then from what would it grow? Here the wife uses the metaphor of the seed to demonstrate that if everyone practiced chastity, there would be no one and therefore no seed on which to grow virginity. She logically uses the analogy with something natural to excuse her own actions. The Wife also makes numerous references to flowers and fruit when describing her sexual relations: "I will share the flour of all my age, in the deeds and in the fruits of marriage." Once again, the woman uses images of nature in a euphemistic sense but also to reconcile her sexual actions with something natural and therefore acceptable. In the context of medieval England, the sciences of astrology and physiognomy were widely accepted as providing insight into character and physiognomy. a person's tendencies. Throughout the prologue to The Wife of Bath, Chaucer responds to the popularity of both disciplines by emphasizing specific details of the Wife's image and her astrological signs to communicate various aspects of her personality to the audience. For example, we are informed that the wife's character is influenced both by Mars, the god..