In the Chaucer's "The Nun's Priest's Tale", Pertelote (Chauntecleer's wife) has a strong reaction to Chauntecleer's emotional state following a nightmare he had in which he died. I believe that Pertelote's reaction is contradictory to the socially accepted gender roles of the Middle Ages and is what ultimately forces Chauntecleer into a role that would be deemed more appropriate for a man. This forces him to face his fear and overcome it.
During the Middle Ages, women were perceived to be the inferior sex. This is made evident in story. My main reference for justification is this: in lines 343-346 Chauntecleer quotes a Latin phrase to Pertelote. He tells her that the phrase "In principio, Mulier est hominis confusio" means "Woman is man's joy in all his bliss". In actuality, it is translated to mean "Woman is man's ruination". Pertelote was Chauntecleer's saving grace. She forces Chauntecleer out of the hall and into the yard. Beginning in line 90, after the nightmare, She tells him "Now han ye lost myn heart and al my love! I can nat love a coward,by my faith. For certes, what so any womman saith, we alle desiren, if it mighte be, To han hosbondes hardy, wise, and free." She continues to belittle Chauntecleer through line 149. Some may perceive this to have pushed Chauntecleer into harms way. This is not so. It was Pertelote's aggressive and dominant nature exhibited through "henpecking" that eventually drove Chauntecleer into the yard and saves his manhood.
If he had stayed inside the hall, succumbed to his fear, his wives would have been the target for the fox and he would have been ridiculed for being a coward. Since he did confront the fox and ultimately win, he changed the course of action, proved the dream to be wrong, and was a hero.
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