The portrayal of Thomas Hardy's character Tess in his work Tess of
             the D'Ubervilles and Geoffrey Chaucer's character of Alisoun in his work
             The Wife of Bath's Prologue is such that both women are seen by society at
             the given time in history as rebellious, discontent, and badly behaved .
             Though these portrayals are the result of the cultural values held at said
             time, they have been immensely influenced by the ideas that the authors
             respectively had of women as well as the lens of context that each
             character is viewed through. The belief that these two characters 'behave
             badly' is highlighted through double standards in the novels' respective
             societies as well as pristine character representation that Chaucer and
             Although the mindset in which women are viewed has changed
             drastically over the years, the attitudes that men in the Victorian Era had
             towards women greatly influenced the representation of Tess that Hardy
             gives to us in his book. Throughout the Victorian Era, women who were
             married were treated as 'lesser humans,' and were valued by their husbands
             if they were efficient, submissive, and most importantly - faithful. The
             women that had acted in a sexually impure way were referred to as "fallen
             women," and in all essence were cast aside by society because of the
             'dirtiness' that they carried with them. In Hardy's novel, the character
             of Angel Clare viewed Tess as a possible lover because he was under the
             impression that she was not sullied in any way. While observing her during
             breakfast as she talks to the other dairy-folk he described her as "a fresh
             and virginal daughter of Nature" (Hardy 137), but just a little while
             later, once Tess lets him know about her past affairs with Alec, his
             opinion of her changes instantaneously. Instead of being understanding or
             at the very least forgiving, he thinks of Tess now as an imposter and
             someone to stay clear of. The sudden chang...