The inquiry into whether or not Geoffrey Chaucer was ahead of his time in terms of his views on feminism has been a subject of debate for hundreds of years. The Wife of Bath's prologue is only a solitary example of the complicated nature of Chaucer's belief system. On the one hand, we have many strong female characters who, despite still being extremely dependent on the men in their lives, know what they want out of life. From a contrasting point of view, readers see a group of men, including Chaucer as the writer himself, mocking the very nature of women as a whole. Is this really how Chaucer felt about women, or is the prologue to The Wife of Bath's Tale simply a parody of the views of his time? When questioning Chaucer's position on feminism, one must remember that feminism is a fairly contemporary term. The word “feminism” didn't even make its appearance in the English language until 1890 (dictionary.com). The world around Chaucer must also be taken into consideration when thinking about his possible thoughts on women. While it is a fact that there have been many writers who have supported women's rights, it is also true that there are many who have not supported women's rights. An example of this would be John Gower, who was a well-known friend of Chaucer, wrote a poem called Confessio Amantis. Each chapter of this poem is based on one of the seven deadly sins, but also focuses on a relationship he had with a woman (2013). This work, much like Chaucer's, is a morality tale, which seeks to teach a life lesson to those who read his stories. In the diversity of the plethora of characters present in the various stories of The Canterbury Tales, it is easy to see that, at the very least, Chaucer was an...... middle of paper ......ucer an anti-feminist? It may be that she was simply trying to get her point across and inadvertently broached a sore subject for modern-era feminists. It may well be that this story was not written completely by Chaucer at all. Although this concept is less accepted by scholars, it must always be considered an option when dealing with a literary work that has existed for as many years as The Canterbury Tales. Despite all the controversy surrounding Chaucer's work and his worldviews, there are some things that can be made very clear. Regardless of how much time has passed since these stories were first written, they have managed to stand the test of time and still ring true today. Furthermore, the feminist movement is as strong today as it has ever been. Alyson would have adapted quite well to today's society.