I Am Not Like Those "Other" Girls: Deconstruction of Superficial Feminism in Chaucer's Wife of Bath and Ya Female Protagonists

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dc.contributor.advisorSchwebel, Leah
dc.contributor.authorMadhani, Amrin
dc.date.accessioned2021-06-03T17:10:30Z
dc.date.available2021-06-03T17:10:30Z
dc.date.issued2021-05
dc.description.abstractThis essay takes a comprehensive look at critical responses to Chaucer’s Wife of Bath and deconstructs the arguments supporting Alisoun of Bath as a pro-feminist character. My thesis is comprised of two major parts. The first part attempts to review arguments made by scholars who read the Wife of Bath as a pro-feminist character and explain how they are misinterpreting her. The second part will extend that conversation into the Young Adult Literature genre as a way to show how anti-feminist rhetoric is similarly misunderstood in modern female characters. The important distinction I am making in my thesis revolves around trying to explain how narratives of false feminism are upheld by people who constantly engage with these texts (i.e. Medieval Literature, or YA Literature respectively). I will address my point by demonstrating how YA female protagonists echo the superficial feminism found in Wife of Bath to help the readers catch potential misogynistic themes and tropes present in these popular books. By extending this conversation from Wife of Bath, a prominent character in Medieval Literature, into a genre dominated by young female protagonists, I anticipate that more readers will properly identify the subtle ways in which the female protagonist maintains the patriarchal status quo. It is easier, in my opinion, to accept that female representation in Medieval Literature was gendered. So, by showing the similarities of the characters and how critics responded to those texts I would like to highlight that modern readers have not yet conquered removing false feminists from books.
dc.description.departmentHonors College
dc.formatText
dc.format.extent45 pages
dc.format.medium1 file (.pdf)
dc.identifier.citationMadhani, A. (2021). I am not like those "other" girls: Deconstruction of superficial feminism in Chaucer's Wife of Bath and Ya female protagonists (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10877/13732
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectChaucer
dc.subjectWife of Bath
dc.subjectmedieval
dc.subjectliterature
dc.subjectPotter, Harry
dc.subjectYA
dc.subjectfeminism
dc.subjectsuperficial
dc.subjectHunger Games
dc.subjectHermione
dc.subjectfaux
dc.subjectHonors College
dc.titleI Am Not Like Those "Other" Girls: Deconstruction of Superficial Feminism in Chaucer's Wife of Bath and Ya Female Protagonists
thesis.degree.departmentHonors College
thesis.degree.disciplineEnglish
thesis.degree.grantorTexas State University
txstate.documenttypeHonors Thesis

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