Two Unlikely Woman in British Literature

Allison, the Wife of Bath in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, are two bold women in literature who abandon the expectations of society on women of the time and instead use manipulation to gain power and control.

            These two women, Allison and Lady Macbeth are significant female characters because they represent upheaval in their respective societies both in their behavior and in their expected societal roles. Allison, a cloth-maker, lives in a time following the Norman Invasion. The Anglo-Saxon ways including the more even playing field between sexes gave way to “frenchified”, male-dominant way of life. Women were expected to serve their husbands yet Allison expects her men to serve her.

            Lady Macbeth also acts unexpectedly when she takes things into her own hands and doesn’t act as a submissive and noble woman should. Following the delivery of the three witches’ message to Macbeth regarding his fate, Lady Macbeth instantly realized what is being threatened and desperately wants to change his fate. Instead of acting honorably and as a servant to her husband, she devises a plan in which she will commit regicide and kill Duncan herself. She instead decides to convince Macbeth to commit the murder himself.

            At first glance, the Wife of Bath may seem to be in support of feminism yet Chaucer describes her in explicit ways when he writes about her headdress, her scarlet dress, her hips and particularly her gapped teeth which were commonly associated with lust during her time. Allison comes off as experienced and knowledgeable about men because she has had five husbands. Unlike the women of her time, Allison is dominant. She uses her body and sexuality to manipulate and gain control over her men. During her fifth marriage even a traumatic blow to the head at the hands of her husband doesn’t stop her controlling behavior and she lies on the floor as if she is dead. She dramatically pretends to be dead from the blow in order to incite concern with her husband.

            Lady Macbeth quickly jumps into the thick of things when she learns about her husband’s predicted fate. She and her husband both want the wealth and power. Lady Macbeth devises a plan to murder the king so that fulfillment of the witches’ message might not be met. Lady Macbeth is desperate. She feels her husband is too loyal and not ruthless enough; too weak. Lady Macbeth, although bold and ambitious recognizes that she isn’t really capable in her current state of carrying out murder. Instead she asks for the supernatural ability to be unsexed; to rid herself of feminine qualities so that she can murder the king. Instead of gaining supernatural power, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to commit the murder…freeing her from the burden of actually committing the crime. Lady Macbeth becomes merely the catalyst for her husband’s out of control murderous behavior.

            Both women use manipulation to get what they want and both women live outside the societal norms of their time. However, Allison ultimately is a much more durable character. Allison presents herself as a promoter of sexual freedom and not a promoter of feminism. She uses her sexual skill and her body to gain what she purports that women want most; sovereignty over their husbands at a time when servitude by the woman was expected. For Allison, her sexuality was her biggest shock factor.

            At first meet, Lady Macbeth paints an image of herself as a villainous queen; both strong and ambitious to retain her power. Yet it isn’t long before we realize that Lady Macbeth cannot handle the guilt associated with being a murder and committing regicide even though her hands didn’t actually commit the murder, she pushed and supported her husband in completing the acts. Before long, the power hungry spree begins to take its toll on the ambitious Lady Macbeth. The audience witnesses her deteriorating health and mental stability as she fruitlessly tries to wash her hands of the guilt.

            In this comparison, I find that while both women were women outside of the norms of society they did convey an upheaval. They may have represented the frustration that women and men might have felt over the ever-changing society that both writers endured. However, regarding our leading ladies, Allison is a much stronger character who is able to endure the ill effects of her manipulation, while Lady Macbeth falls victim to them in her quick demise. Neither of these bold, unforgettable ladies were typical ladies of their time.