Foreign Direct Investment in China in last 10 years Essay Example for Free

Foreign Direct Investment in China in last 10 years Essay Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a long-term investment by a foreign investor and is considered a key component of national development strategies across all countries over the globe. This type of investment boosts the economic growth of a country through its positive impact on the country’s domestic capital, productivity, and employment statistics. FDI is the lifeblood of a growing economy that provides the host country benefits of increased labor standards and skills, transfer of new technology and innovative ideas, improved infrastructure and conducive business environment. It is a leading source of external financing. Countries that have stable market conditions coupled with high productivity, low costs of labor, effective government policies and adequate infrastructure facilities are considered to be the most favored destinations for foreign investment companies. Liberalization of economies has opened doors for many countries into the emerging markets of the developing nations such as China and India. The Chinese Economy The Chinese economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It has emerged from being an economy with virtually no foreign investment in the late 1970s to a country that attracts one of the largest amounts of foreign investment from investors across the globe. The increasing openness of the Chinese economy to foreign direct investment has contributed immensely to its exceptional growth and development. The increase in foreign direct investment in China has contributed to higher investment, and growth in productivity, greater employment opportunities, and a dynamic export sector. China is one of the most populous countries in the world with more than 1. 3 billion people with an annual growth rate of 0. 8%. It has taken adequate measures to curb its rising population figures and this has made a positive impact on its growth rate. The population density is approximately 136 persons per square kilometer with most of the people (almost 60 percent) living in rural areas. Life expectancy is also higher in this country than most developing nations across the globe. The country also has high literacy rate of 91 percent. The Chinese economy witnessed a slow but dramatic growth over the past twenty years. It has transformed from a poor economy with relatively low per capita income to the world’s fastest growing economy. The Chinese economy has emerged as a market-oriented economy that has become a dominant figure in world trade. The country has increased its interaction with international economy that has resulted in increased foreign trade and gross national product (GNP). The Chinese economy grew at 11. 4 percent in the year 2007. As per the FDI Confidence Index compiled by A. T. Kearney in the year 2005, China hold the first position followed by India and United States. China is currently the world’s fourth largest economy and it has expanded by at least 10 percent annually in the last four years. Foreign direct investment in China rose by 4. 5 percent in the year 2006 to approximately US$ 63 billion. The country’s foreign currency reserves are the world’s largest and primarily derived from the trade surplus that rose to almost US$ 177. 5 billion in the year 2006. FDI investment trend in the past 10 years Foreign direct investment sector in China has spelled success over the past ten years. It has increased from a mere US$ 19 billion in the year 1990 to more than US$ 700 billion in the year 2007. A glance at the capital and financial account item’s surplus in the past few years reveal that the foreign direct investment has made great contributions to the foreign exchange reserve accumulation. Besides this the FDI has a stabilizing influence on the country’s economy. This is largely due to the long-term commitment that FDI stands for while establishing foreign affiliates. Most developing countries hence are adopting policy reforms to attract more foreign investment into the country. China has accounted for more than one-third of the gross FDI flows to all emerging markets over the past decade. Despite the weakening of the global markets in the recent years, China has remained an essentially fast growing economy. The country’s capital inflows have been dominated by FDI that has made significant contribution to stabilizing the economy along with other associated benefits such as technological transfers and increasing managerial expertise. In 2007 the overall FDI inflows into China totaled US$ 82. 7 billion that is a 13. 8 percent increase from the previous year figures. The total number of deals dropped by almost 8 percent in the year 2006 from 44,019 in the year 2005 to 41,485 in the 2006. The increasing appreciation of the local currency renminbi during the period and the subsequent impact on the market was responsible for this drop. The year 2007 saw only 37,888 foreign investment deals, a drop of 8. 7 percent from the previous year figures. But the value of the FDI was significantly larger than the previous statistics. Wholly foreign-owned enterprises represented almost 78 percent of all foreign investments followed by equity joint ventures and contractual joint ventures. Continuous foreign capital inflow has rendered the Chinese economy the prime position in global context in terms of attracting foreign investment. The country accounts for an investment of foreign capital funds totaling US$ 8589 million by 5136 new foreign corporations between the period January to February 2006. The major sources of FDI in China are Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. Among other investors the prominent countries are United States, Taiwan, Cayman Islands, Western Samoa, and Mauritius. These top ten countries together account for 87. 2 percent of total FDI inflows into China. The manufacturing sector accounted for nearly 57. 7 percent totaling US$ 40. 1 billion of the total FDI inflows in the year 2006 followed by 11. 9 percent equivalent to US$ 8. 2 billion in the real estate sector. Other prominent sectors that reflect increasing foreign investment are leasing and business services (US$ 4. 2 billion), transport (US$ 2. 0 billion), wholesale and retailing (US$ 1. 8 billion). Low cost of manufacturing, increasingly wealthy consumer market comprising of 1. 3 billion people are attracting larger number of foreign companies to establish their outlets in China. The large-scale investment by foreign investors has helped in pushing the nation’s foreign currency reserves to almost US$ 1. 2 trillion that is quite high by global standards. The FDI outflow of China received significant attention in the year 2007 due to the creation of People’s Republic of China’s sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corp. and several other high profile investments and acquisitions. China Investment Corp. purchased a stake of US$ 3 billion in Blackstone and 9. 9 percent stake of Morgan Stanley worth US$ 5 billion in the year 2006. The statistics of the total FDI outflow in the year 2006 reveal a total figure of US$ 21. 2 billion that is an increase of nearly 73 percent over the previous year figures. The State owned enterprises accounted for almost 86 percent of this total FDI outflow. The FDI outflow in the country is spread across 172 destinations across the world. The largest share of the FDI outflow from China is received by Latin America followed by Asia, Cayman Islands, and Hong Kong. The prime regional sources of China’s overseas investments are Guangdong, Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hainan, Hebei, and Beijing. Balance of Payments trend in the past 10 years Over the last ten years China’s Balance of Payments (BOP) kept its current and capital accounts in surplus constantly. The annual total scale of BOP accounts’ increased by 31. 6 percent during the period 1984 – 2004 when foreign reserves increased from US$ 0. 054 trillion to US$ 1. 91. In the first half of the year 2005, the BOP raised to US$ 1. 14 trillion that is an increase of 25. 3 percent over the previous year figures. There is a complimentary relationship between the growth of FDI and international trades. The trades and foreign investment have immense impact on the position of balance of payment, in terms of growth in international business activities. Source: International Financial Statistics July 2007, International Monetary Fund The changes in economic policies adopted and implemented by the Chinese government have made tremendous impact on its trade and balance of payments. The opening of the economy and its gradual move towards a market-oriented economy has made significant impact on the trade balances and foreign funds inflow into the country. A look at the balance of payments figures indicates that the current account surpluses and foreign direct investment have remained important contributors to accumulation of foreign exchange reserves in China. The trade surplus widened to over 177 billion dollars in 2006 to 262 billion dollars in the year 2007. The Government of China is planning to stimulate imports and streamline exports in the coming years. GDP and Inflation Trend in China GDP has shown a healthy growth trend over the past decade in China. Individuals have become richer with annual GDP rising from US$ 8,440 billion in the year 1998 to US$ 24,661 billion in the year 2007. The real GDP growth in the year 2007 was 11. 4 percent raised from 11. 1 percent in the year 2006. The 11. 4 percent GDP growth rate is the highest for China in the last 13 years and it is expected that the GDP will grow 10 percent in the forthcoming year. The economic growth in China was expected to slow down in the year 2007 due to the global market slump. However the rising oil prices across the globe has not made much of an impact so far on the Chinese economy due to the huge amounts of foreign investment in the country. But Chinese economy being more dependent on international trade will face a slow down eventually. Economists predict that the rising consumption pattern will have a slow down impact on the GDP growth rate in the year 2008. It is expected that the Chinese exports will slow down from 26 percent in the year 2007 to 19 percent in 2008. This is mainly accountable to the weakening global market demand and cuts in export rebates. A look at the inflation in China reveals a steadily growing curve. Inflation reached a high of 4. 8 percent in the year 2007 from 1. 5 percent in the year 2006. The rising inflation has reached the peak within the decade. It is expected that the inflation will continue to rise in the forthcoming years with percentage rising to more than 7 in the year 2008. The rising global price of oil has made significant impact on the market prices of goods and commodities in China. This has led to rising consumer oil prices and food prices, and producer price index. Inflation has spread to the service sector as well indicating rising cost of labor in the country. The consumer price index rose by 4. 5 percent in the urban areas and by 5. 4 percent in the rural areas in the year 2007. The rise in inflation is mainly attributed to increased food prices and housing sector. This is becoming a matter of concern for the Chinese economy since the escalating prices can have a negative impact on the overall economic growth. The Chinese government is trying to control inflation adopting strict monetary and trade regulations. Unemployment trend The per capita disposable income was 13,786 yuan in the year 2007 that is a growth of 17. 2 percent from over the previous year figure of 11,759 yuan. The rural per capita disposable income was 4140 yuan in the year 2007 that is a growth of almost 15. 4 percent over the previous year figure of 3587 yuan. The employment figures also raised in the past few years steadily both in the urban and rural sectors. The number of employed people in urban areas reached 12. 04 million people in the year 2007 an increase of 200,000 people over the previous year statistics. China has generated almost 51 million jobs in the past five years in the urban areas. Statistics reveal that there are about 20 million new job seekers in the country every year and the economy is able to provide approximately 12 million jobs per year. Government efforts are directed towards generating more jobs. The country has implemented active employment policies since the year 2002 that has increased the number of employed people from 8. 4 million to 12. 04 million in the last year. Impact of FDI on the Chinese Economy The past few years has witnessed the emerging of China’s economy as the most successful in the world utilizing the inflow of foreign direct investment towards its economic development. The key driving force towards this economic mobilization is the opening up of the Chinese economy to foreign trade and investment. The opening of the economy with subsequent rise in foreign direct investment has contributed immensely to its exceptional growth and development. The foreign direct investment has made a positive impact on the country’s balance of payments. Besides this the impact has been favorable on the country’s GDP growth rate. It has not only raised GDP growth by adding to capital formation but also has contributed to higher GDP growth through its effect on total productivity. The establishment of foreign funded enterprises has directly contributed to the GDP growth an introduction of new technologies and management skills. The growth in industrial establishments and service sector has created new employment opportunities and this is seen as a significant contributor to economic development in China. Moreover, the foreign direct investment has assisted in establishing a highly competitive manufacturing sector in the country. This has contributed immensely to the rising exports and the country’s participation in world trade. References: 1. Foreign Direct Investment in China: International Monetary Fund, 2002 http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/pdp/2002/pdp03. pdf accessed on 9th April, 2008 2. The US-China Business Council – Forecast 2008 China’s Economy http://uschina. org/public/documents/2008/02/2008-china-economy. pdf accessed on 9th April, 2008 3. ADB: China’s GDP to grow 10% in 08, inflation at 5. 5% http://www. chinadaily. com. cn/china/2008-04/02/content_6587641. htm accessed on 9th April, 2008 4. Chinese Inflation hits highest level in more than a decade, Feb 20, 2008 http://www. iht. com/articles/2008/02/19/business/yuan. php accessed on 9th April, 2008 5. National Bureau of Statistics of China http://www. stats. gov. cn/english/statisticaldata/yearlydata/ accessed on 9th April, 2008

Comparing Character in Child by Tiger and Most Dangerous Game Essay exa

Difference in Character in Child by Tiger and Most Dangerous Game In Thomas Wolfe's "The Child by Tiger," the character Dick Prosser is clearly more credible than General Zaroff in Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game." This plausibility is due to each character's lifestyle, murder motives, and personal morals. The difference in the characters is very dramatic. Foremost, how and where one lives tell much about a person. General Zaroff appears to be living in an almost make-believe world. He has bought an island and made his home there. When Rainsford, another character in the short story, reaches the island, he begins looking for lights. Connell describes, "He came upon them as he turned a crook in the coast line, and his first thought was that he had come upon a village, for there were many lights" (11). Today, it would be ludicrous for a man to own an island all by himself. Conversely, Dick Prosser lives more realistically. He lives in a basement room of a home belonging to a white family. Wolfe explains, "The bare board floor was always cleanly swept, a plain bare ... Comparing Character in Child by Tiger and Most Dangerous Game Essay exa Difference in Character in Child by Tiger and Most Dangerous Game In Thomas Wolfe's "The Child by Tiger," the character Dick Prosser is clearly more credible than General Zaroff in Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game." This plausibility is due to each character's lifestyle, murder motives, and personal morals. The difference in the characters is very dramatic. Foremost, how and where one lives tell much about a person. General Zaroff appears to be living in an almost make-believe world. He has bought an island and made his home there. When Rainsford, another character in the short story, reaches the island, he begins looking for lights. Connell describes, "He came upon them as he turned a crook in the coast line, and his first thought was that he had come upon a village, for there were many lights" (11). Today, it would be ludicrous for a man to own an island all by himself. Conversely, Dick Prosser lives more realistically. He lives in a basement room of a home belonging to a white family. Wolfe explains, "The bare board floor was always cleanly swept, a plain bare ...

Why we hate HR

This shows the critical role and function f human resources management (HARM) in an organization. However, some concerns are articulated in the article â€Å"Why We Hate HER†. The author did some research on the effectiveness and efficiency of HARM function, finding that the HARM does not do their own Job virtually and accountably to maximize the human resources–finding the best hires, nurturing the stars, and fostering a productive work environment. Although some of the author's points may be somewhat radical, some points are knowledgeable.In the following analysis, own opinions are presenting to analyze and evaluate the author's arguments about the HER function in organizations. HER People aren't the Sharpest Tacks in the Box (Disagree) As I mentioned before, employees are valuable assets of an organization to offer necessary labor and worthy expertise. They are executors and performers following the top level management to make efforts and contributions to the organi zation. They are also related to the development and progress of an organization. Where do these employees come from?HER professionals hire them; and then train them to maximize their function and obligation. â€Å"HER is something of an umbrella term, encompassing many various functions within its scope. As the strength of [an organization] relies upon the strength of its employees, the effective management of an organization's human resources can propel the [organization] toward higher levels of performance. † (Kennedy, May/June 2004, Para. 2&3). This reveals the importance of HARM in an organization to regulate and manage employees and human relations across the different departments.In addition, the author divides the HER people into two classifications. One is intelligent people who fare poorly in meatier role, but not poorly enough to be fired so that exile from organization mainstream into HER apartment. Another type is those who enter the field by choice and with the best of intentions, but for the wrong reasons such as liking working with people. From own view, this classification is somewhat subjective and biased. Human resources people are employees of an organization as well.In order to execute their function, cursorily choosing and arranging them is not a wise way to improve the role of HARM so that the possibility of exile should be tiny. The ability and quality of HER people should be high enough to control the entrance of new employees, improvement of experienced employees, and human relations across the entire organization. HER Pursues Efficiency in Lieu of Value (Agree) The worth of deliverables is a vital measurement to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of HARM.This means the HER people are not measured by what they do but by what they deliver to not only the employees and line managers, but also the investors and customers. Recently, â€Å"the rapidly changing dynamics of the marketplace are forcing [organizations] to question whether they have the appropriate [knowledge], processes, and technology to deliver†¦ HER services that add alee and are cost effective† (Donahue, June 1996, Para. 2). This reflects two different kinds of deliverables, adding value and saving cost.Capital asset is used to produce value-added. The way of value creation is usually divided into two forms: material capital and human capital. In the perspective of human capital, it â€Å"refers to the aggregation of knowledge, skills, and vigor endowed in people, and it is the main body of value creation. With the emergence and popularity of human capital theory, people began to attach importance to human capital in economic growth, which accordingly contributes to the increase in human capital investment† (Ghana & Run- titan Jinn, March 2006, Para. ). This shows the tendency of value creation by HARM to the development of an organization. Specifically, HER people should connect right employees to the suitable position while selecting. Afterward, they should train the employees appropriately to deliver valuable and useful information so that new employees could better understand the organization, position, and responsibility. Finally, through performance appraisal, some issues and matters should be fixed. All Hess ways could add value into the organization to improve the progress.Cost saving is another type of deliverables that performs in the opposite way of adding value. It closely related to the financial executives so that the cooperation between financial function and HER function is tight and vital. â€Å"Financial executives need to make sure their organization's HER function runs smoothly and cost efficiently†¦ By performing a structured analysis of HER service delivery, [organizations] often can gain perspective on the proper course to follow to transform the HER function (Donahue, June 1996, Para. 11).The way of cost effectiveness by HARM could be communication among executives an d determination a realizable strategy in order to deliver HER services for equity and diversity in the future. HER isn't Working for You (Neutrality) HARM is restricted by legal labor regulations promulgated by the government authority, such as Equal Employment Opportunity, Fair Labor Standards, and Occupational Safety and Health. In addition, the organization itself has own policies and rules to be followed by HARM. This means HER people have to accept both the outsider and insider supervisions with reasonable caution to make sure it does not UN afoul of the rules.Usually, they pursue standardization and uniformity in the face of a workforce that is heterogeneous and complex because this way is relatively easy to regulate and manage the employees and functions. They have a tension created by HRS role as protector of the organization's assets so that compliance is put in the first place. Nothing would be smooth all the time. There are still some exceptions that violate the strict ru les. These exceptions should be considered by HER people under their management.Therefore, at this time, the way used by HER people o deal with the exceptions is important since it not only shows the capability of adoption, but also relates to the maintenance of relationship between employees and functions. In the article of â€Å"Why We Hate HER†, the author is somewhat radical that all the exceptions are not considered carefully and dealt with well by HER people because they follow the rules strictly without any exception. The author also describes that bureaucrats everywhere abhor exceptions–not Just because they open up the organization to charges of bias, but because they require more than rote solutions.From own viewpoint, the author's explanation is reasonable and understandable, but not absolute. Klein (Seep. 1998) found that â€Å"[Organization] human resource managers†¦ Often get no respect because they work in the so called â€Å"soft† end of th e company and seemingly don't directly affect the bottom line† (Para. 1). This reveals the reason why HER people do not accept some exceptions: the influence of accepting exceptions is diminutive that has no effectiveness and efficiency to the organization. Under this condition, some exceptions are ignored, not Just because HER people are lazy to find the solutions.Therefore, although there may be some excuses from HER people, most exceptions are considered carefully by HER people. The reason why some employees feel ignored may be that HARM do not give out a reasonable explanation timely and persuasively. Conclusion In my opinion, some of the author's main points are reasonable and persuasive, but some others may be somewhat radical. The importance of HARM cannot be ignored. It acts as a transporter between employees and employers, working for both of them. The function of HARM is to add value into the organization and save cost to maintain the worth of the organization. Why we hate HR This shows the critical role and function f human resources management (HARM) in an organization. However, some concerns are articulated in the article â€Å"Why We Hate HER†. The author did some research on the effectiveness and efficiency of HARM function, finding that the HARM does not do their own Job virtually and accountably to maximize the human resources–finding the best hires, nurturing the stars, and fostering a productive work environment. Although some of the author's points may be somewhat radical, some points are knowledgeable.In the following analysis, own opinions are presenting to analyze and evaluate the author's arguments about the HER function in organizations. HER People aren't the Sharpest Tacks in the Box (Disagree) As I mentioned before, employees are valuable assets of an organization to offer necessary labor and worthy expertise. They are executors and performers following the top level management to make efforts and contributions to the organi zation. They are also related to the development and progress of an organization. Where do these employees come from?HER professionals hire them; and then train them to maximize their function and obligation. â€Å"HER is something of an umbrella term, encompassing many various functions within its scope. As the strength of [an organization] relies upon the strength of its employees, the effective management of an organization's human resources can propel the [organization] toward higher levels of performance. † (Kennedy, May/June 2004, Para. 2&3). This reveals the importance of HARM in an organization to regulate and manage employees and human relations across the different departments.In addition, the author divides the HER people into two classifications. One is intelligent people who fare poorly in meatier role, but not poorly enough to be fired so that exile from organization mainstream into HER apartment. Another type is those who enter the field by choice and with the best of intentions, but for the wrong reasons such as liking working with people. From own view, this classification is somewhat subjective and biased. Human resources people are employees of an organization as well.In order to execute their function, cursorily choosing and arranging them is not a wise way to improve the role of HARM so that the possibility of exile should be tiny. The ability and quality of HER people should be high enough to control the entrance of new employees, improvement of experienced employees, and human relations across the entire organization. HER Pursues Efficiency in Lieu of Value (Agree) The worth of deliverables is a vital measurement to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of HARM.This means the HER people are not measured by what they do but by what they deliver to not only the employees and line managers, but also the investors and customers. Recently, â€Å"the rapidly changing dynamics of the marketplace are forcing [organizations] to question whether they have the appropriate [knowledge], processes, and technology to deliver†¦ HER services that add alee and are cost effective† (Donahue, June 1996, Para. 2). This reflects two different kinds of deliverables, adding value and saving cost.Capital asset is used to produce value-added. The way of value creation is usually divided into two forms: material capital and human capital. In the perspective of human capital, it â€Å"refers to the aggregation of knowledge, skills, and vigor endowed in people, and it is the main body of value creation. With the emergence and popularity of human capital theory, people began to attach importance to human capital in economic growth, which accordingly contributes to the increase in human capital investment† (Ghana & Run- titan Jinn, March 2006, Para. ). This shows the tendency of value creation by HARM to the development of an organization. Specifically, HER people should connect right employees to the suitable position while selecting. Afterward, they should train the employees appropriately to deliver valuable and useful information so that new employees could better understand the organization, position, and responsibility. Finally, through performance appraisal, some issues and matters should be fixed. All Hess ways could add value into the organization to improve the progress.Cost saving is another type of deliverables that performs in the opposite way of adding value. It closely related to the financial executives so that the cooperation between financial function and HER function is tight and vital. â€Å"Financial executives need to make sure their organization's HER function runs smoothly and cost efficiently†¦ By performing a structured analysis of HER service delivery, [organizations] often can gain perspective on the proper course to follow to transform the HER function (Donahue, June 1996, Para. 11).The way of cost effectiveness by HARM could be communication among executives an d determination a realizable strategy in order to deliver HER services for equity and diversity in the future. HER isn't Working for You (Neutrality) HARM is restricted by legal labor regulations promulgated by the government authority, such as Equal Employment Opportunity, Fair Labor Standards, and Occupational Safety and Health. In addition, the organization itself has own policies and rules to be followed by HARM. This means HER people have to accept both the outsider and insider supervisions with reasonable caution to make sure it does not UN afoul of the rules.Usually, they pursue standardization and uniformity in the face of a workforce that is heterogeneous and complex because this way is relatively easy to regulate and manage the employees and functions. They have a tension created by HRS role as protector of the organization's assets so that compliance is put in the first place. Nothing would be smooth all the time. There are still some exceptions that violate the strict ru les. These exceptions should be considered by HER people under their management.Therefore, at this time, the way used by HER people o deal with the exceptions is important since it not only shows the capability of adoption, but also relates to the maintenance of relationship between employees and functions. In the article of â€Å"Why We Hate HER†, the author is somewhat radical that all the exceptions are not considered carefully and dealt with well by HER people because they follow the rules strictly without any exception. The author also describes that bureaucrats everywhere abhor exceptions–not Just because they open up the organization to charges of bias, but because they require more than rote solutions.From own viewpoint, the author's explanation is reasonable and understandable, but not absolute. Klein (Seep. 1998) found that â€Å"[Organization] human resource managers†¦ Often get no respect because they work in the so called â€Å"soft† end of th e company and seemingly don't directly affect the bottom line† (Para. 1). This reveals the reason why HER people do not accept some exceptions: the influence of accepting exceptions is diminutive that has no effectiveness and efficiency to the organization. Under this condition, some exceptions are ignored, not Just because HER people are lazy to find the solutions.Therefore, although there may be some excuses from HER people, most exceptions are considered carefully by HER people. The reason why some employees feel ignored may be that HARM do not give out a reasonable explanation timely and persuasively. Conclusion In my opinion, some of the author's main points are reasonable and persuasive, but some others may be somewhat radical. The importance of HARM cannot be ignored. It acts as a transporter between employees and employers, working for both of them. The function of HARM is to add value into the organization and save cost to maintain the worth of the organization.

Research Paper About The Wife of Bath - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1639 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/10/30 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Wife of Bath Essay Did you like this example? The Wife of Baths Tale begins and ends with power in the hands of men, suggesting that a world in which women wield power is only possible in the fantastical land of fairy. This tale only brings one question. What do women desire most? The Wife of Baths sacrifice of power to her husband after he has proven his willingness to grant it to her to suggest that what women really desire the most is not power, but love. Another answer couldve been sovereignty over their husbands or equal power in a relationship. The Wife is a solid devotee for ladies entitlement to have, and appreciate, sexual relations, all through marriage. Concerning marriage, she is a sequential monogamist (five and forgetting about), however she focuses numerous instances of polygamous relational unions in the Bible. Regardless of whether Chaucer was a feminist living well before his time, his picture of the Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales is a convincing study of medieval womens freedom. Precarious and self-serving, the Wife, or Alison, deliberately challenges that women ought to be accommodating to their instructing partners. In Chaucers time, the antifeminism of the church was a strong controlling segment. Alison protects her right to remarry in the wake of being widowed (multiple times) by describing the Biblical story of the Samaritan lady at the well who was living without any father present with a man in the wake of being widowed multiple times. Jesus told her to wed this fifth man. Alison uses this story an d the cases of Solomon, Abraham, and Jacob, every one of whom had numerous spouses. She cant help contradicting the Churchs teaching that virtue is desirable over second marriages; she trusts that by sharing herself, she is closer to the real lessons of the Bible. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Research Paper About The Wife of Bath" essay for you Create order After the Wife of Baths five unions, she has discovered, through experience, that the main path for her to accomplish control is through financial autonomy. As Alison knows for a fact, the genuine products of marriage are set in the marriage bed. Marriage is the way to survival, and that is what Alison looks for and finds. The root of marital control is economic control The idea is clear: control is the power of the purse. She gets economic control by her first four husbands. They were all rich and when they passed, she received their allowances. Her fifth husband was completely different from the rest. Seemingly, she had enough money, she expanded her horizons going for someone younger and less experienced. The Wife of Bath seems to have control over her suitors and she is definitely a woman that is way ahead of her time. The tale begins and ends with power in the hands of men suggesting that women can only have power and control in fairytales. The Wife of Bath is smart, manipulative and always gets what she wants. She is proof of women having both power and love. She uses what she has, sex appeal, to be in control. During this point in time, this is huge because it was so frowned upon. The Wife of Bath softens her views of aid and love but continues the theme of self-sufficiency and power. Alison suggests that a mans true happiness can be reached when he allows his wife to have some level of independence. The knight in the Wife of Baths Tale is faced with answering the question of what women desire most. The fact that the knight does not instantly know the answer to the question proves that men are unaware to the feelings of a woman. Men do not realize the needs of a woman. The wife ends up giving the knight the choice of having her be either, beautiful and unfaithful or ugly and loyal. My lady and my love and my wife so dear, I put myself in your wise governing, Choose yourself which one may be most pleasing, And most honor to both you and me too. I do not care now which one of the two; What pleases you suffices now for me (Chaucer 1898). She is very pleased by his choice of leaving the decision to her and decides to be both beautiful and faithful to him. And when the knight saw all this verily, That she now was so fair and young too, For joy he seized her within his arms too, His heart was all bathed in a bath of bliss. A thousand times in a row, he did her kiss, And she obeyed him then in everything And that was to his pleasure or his liking. And thus they both lived until their lives end In in perfect joy (1899). The sense of balance and equality are shown when the knight tells her hed be happy with anything, but, he was hoping she would choose to be beautiful, but he gives her the power to decide and she chooses what he wants and they both end up happy and loving each other more. Ultimately, women want the ability to make decisions for themselves instead of being ordered around like servants. Women want to be respected as equal partners of men rather than their subordinates. Women do not want to dominate over men, but simply to be their equals to show that they are loved in that manner. The Wife of Bath uses the examples of three different relationships to show her idea that the man generally abuses his power over a woman and that in an ideal relationship the man should concede control to the woman. In the article Conflict and Relationship, Sovereignty and Survival: Parables of Power in the Wife of Baths Prologue by Barbara Gottfried, she states Even as she attempts a deconstruction of patriarchal literature in an experiential revision of it, the Wife necessarily falls short of the goal of overcoming authority because she can only define herself in relation to that authority. She does not speak simply about herself but realizes herself through her relationship to the various manifestations of patriarchy. Not only does she borrow her categories and the terms of her self-evaluation from the literature she condemns; patriarchal authority determines the fundamental bases for her self-definition. Along these lines, regardless of how much power the Wife of Bath thinks she has, she is constantly tied to patriarchy system. With the end goal to be completely powerful, she should throw away the world-views that she attempts to adapt to her specific situation, and replace them with her own beliefs, which in my opinion she does, but according to Gottfried, she doesnt accomplish this. The Wife of Bath is a woman of passion, who desires most of all to be more powerful than any man, her husband, or her lover. When we look at the prologue and her tale we are able to see who she is and to get a real sense of idea of how she actually views herself. She is confident about her knowledge of love, virginity and marriage because she has been married five times and states that her experience is more important than knowledge derived from intellectuals and books. She is very unique for a traditional type of woman during the time that this tale was written because she does not feel shameful for her experiences in life, instead, she feels that living by experience is the best way to live. Geoffrey Chaucer paints a very controversial picture of the Wife of Bath. On one hand she is crude, sexually explicit, and hypocritical, but on the other hand, she is humorous, brave, and fundamental. She is proud of her life and the fact that she has had five husbands at the church door does not dishonor her in any way. On the other hand, she truly believes in her viewpoint and her virtues and she supports them with quotes from the bible. That is ironic because she is differing womens oppression with the piece of literature that has been used by men as a justification for womens oppression. She questions if the Bible commands virginity and marriage only one time, but realizes that, in fact, many men in the Bible had more than one wife. Chaucer uses irony and sarcasm to test the churchs oppression of women by allowing the Wife of Bath to speak freely about sex, marriage and womens desires. She brags about lying, cheating and misleading her husbands and she shows little compassion to any of the men in her life. Yet, she is a woman of a strong character, who knows what she wants and continuously fights against male dominance. In modern times, The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and the Wife of Baths tale have a lot in common. Both involve a disturbing (or troubled) character whose past relationships with women are not entirely above par but finds redemption and eventually marriage in another relationship that has changed him into a loving and respectful husband. But both of these stories are fantasies so cant be seen as an accurate picture of relationships between men and women. In the end, only audiences can decide how they choose to read or interpret stories. In conclusion, The Wife of Baths Tale begins and ends with power in the hands of men, suggesting that a world in which women wield power is only possible in the fantastical land of fairy. In her Prologue, she has the determination to take on the male-centered thinkers of the Church and the wife-beaters of the overall population. The Wife of Bath knows how to work the male-dominant culture. This tale only brings one question. What do women desire most? The Wife of Baths sacrifice of power to her husband after he has proven his willingness to grant it to her to suggest that what women really desire the most is not power, but love.