Al hadde man seyn a thyng with bothe his yen,
Yit shul we wommen visage it hardily,
And wepe, and swere, and chyde subtilly,
So that ye men shul been as lewed as gees.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Merchant’s Tale. Proserpina admits that women exploit the power of tears to fool men. Men will see one thing with both their eyes, she says, but women will brazen it out boldly and cry and swear and scold cleverly, so that men will be as ignorant as geese.