The Wife Of Bath’s Tale: Forget The Past And Accept The Present

The idea of the past or your ancestors doesn't matter and the only thing that really matters is the present is something that is present in this chapter. I have some opinions about this idea that support it but others that disapprove it. I think it is wrong to judge someone for his last name. I have seen cases when people say that a person must be annoying because his father or mother was annoying making him annoying. I do think that habits and ways of behaving are passed down through generations but I don't think it is correct to condemn a person by what I know about his family members. There is a part in The Wife Of Bath's Tale where the idea of forgetting the past and only accept the present is shown when the woman says: "That he is gentil that dooth gentil dedis. And therfore, leeve housbonde, I thus conclude: Al were it that myne auncestres were rude, Yet may the hye God, and so hope I, Grante me grace to lyven vertuously. Thanne am I gentil, whan that I bigynne To lyven vertuously and weyve synne." (1170-1176) In this part the woman is asking him to forget her past and accept her present which is good. If I were her husband I would forgive her of her past because the only thing that is important now is the way she is and behaves now and not the way her ancestors were. I agree that the past is an important key to figure out how each person is and learn his roots. Another way this idea was shown is when she says: "Possessioun that no wight wol chalenge. Poverte ful ofte, whan a man is lowe, Maketh his God and eek hymself to knowe. Poverte a spectacle is, as thynketh me, Thurgh which he may his verray freendes see." (1200-1204) Poverty is a state in which a person is born to. The person didn't make a wrong decision that affected his life he was just born into it and had nothing to do and change it. I really think it is bad to judge a person by his economical state because it isn't the money that counts in life, it is rather the values and moral composition of the person. When she says that in poverty one learns to look life through a different glass it must be true. When poverty exists there are many things that aren't good about it and the need for this person to overcome these problems probably sets a new vision of the world rather than a person that has gotten everything he wants in his life without having to work for it in any way. I would definitely agree with the idea that it doesn't matter if the roots and ancestors of one person are bad if this person is good.