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Alisoun

Literary Character
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Alisoun: The alias of the Wife of Bath in Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," a robust, worldly, and sexually experienced woman who challenges medieval patriarchal authority through her prologue and tale.

Detailed Definition
Alisoun is the name Chaucer gives the Wife of Bath, one of the best-known characters in The Canterbury Tales. In this poem, the name points to that literary figure rather than to a common word, so readers may need to identify who she is and why she matters.
Example
Example in poetry:
Alisoun's name rings through the Middle English refrain, “An hendy hap ichabbe yhent”; She is idealized through spring imagery, song, and the lover's devotion; Alisoun may be read as a character shaped more by praise than by her own voice; Contemporary retellings can give Alisoun speech beyond the lover's refrain
Additional Notes
The name appears in the line "Lived a dame, Alisoun so dear," and it refers to a specific literary character, not a familiar everyday word.; Found in the poem, The Wife of Bath's Tale by Richard
Other Meanings of “Alisoun”
Also Known As
Alison Alysoun Alisoun of Bath The Wife of Bath
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