Chaucer‘’s Prioress: A Representation of 14th Century Womanhood

Abstract

Womanhood in the fourteenth century was synonymous to suppression particularly in Europe. Dowry was at its height when the question of the marriage comes. Women were not allowed to choose her counterpart. Arranged marriage was a tradition and moreover a matter of false prestige. A woman had to live being mere a puppet at his man’s hand. Her position in the society depends upon her husband’s position. They were indirectly compelled to live an artificial life in order to establish their identity that is too actually according to the expectations of the males in the society. This paper makes an attempt to peep in that society though the character of Prioress.