The Wife of Bath

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

 Prologue

● The Wife of Bath begins the Prologue to her tale by establishing herself as an
authority on marriage, due to her extensive personal experience with the
institution.

● The Wife of Bath has her own views of Scripture and God's plan.

● She admits proudly to using her verbal and sexual power to bring her husbands to
total submission.
 Prologue
● Her nostalgia reminds her of how she has become, but she says that she pays her
loss of beauty no mind. She will try to be merry, for, though she has he “ flour”, she
will try to sell the “ bran’’ that.

● Of her fifth husband, she has much to say. She loved him, even though he treated
her horribly and best her. He was coy and flattering in bed, and always won her
back.

● When she first met this fifth husband, Jankyn, she was still married to her fourth.
While walking with him one day, she told him that she would marry him if she were
widowed.
 Prologue

As she watched Jankyn carry her husband's casket, she fell in love with him.

He was only twenty and she was forty.

He had a “book of wicked wives,” she recalls, called Valerie and Theofraste.
 Tale
● In the days of King Arthur, the Wife of Bath begins, the isle of Britain was full of
fairies and elves.

● And though the friars rape women, just as the incubi did in the days of the fairies,
the friars only cause women dishonor—the incubi always got them pregnant.
 Tales
● In Arthur’s court, however, a young, lusty knight comes across a beautiful young
maiden one day.

● The queen presents the knight with the following challenge: if, within one year,
he can discover what women want most in the world and report his findings back
to the court, he will keep his life.
 Tale
The Knight gets very sad, and goes everywhere in the country, asking the question to
any women he meets, and the answers are different like: money, some honor, some
jolliness, some sex, some remarriage..and to be free to do as they wish.
The wife says: discreet and secretive, but replies it is not true, cause no woman can
keep a secret.
When the judgment day is about to happen, the knight totally sad gets back home.
Nearby the forest, he sees a group of women dancing, he approaches and just like that
they disappear, just a single ugly women remain, she asks him if he needs any help, so
he explain everything to her, and says that if she helps him, he is going to pay for it.
The old woman says he must pledge himself to her and then she will help him, he has no
choice and accepts, and she guarantees that his life is saved.
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The knight and the old woman travel to the court to face the audience.
He tells the answer to the Queen “what women most desire is to be in charge of their
husband and lovers”. The Queen and the others ladies agree and he gets saved.
Suddenly, in public, the old hag asks him to marry her, the knight doesn’t agree at
first, but is forced to consent. they have a private wedding and go to bed together the
same night.
The hag asks why the knight is so sad, he answers, he is disappointed of marrying an
ugly and lowborn wife.
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She gets no offense, and asks him if to be a good person, noble character is hereditary,
give some examples, and replies that her family may be poor, but real poverty lies on
covetousness, and real riches lies in having little, and wanting nothing.

She says to the knight to choose between an ugly but loyal and good wife, or an
young and fair but also coquettish and unfaithful one. He keeps muted, and then says
he believe in her judgment, tells her to choose what she thinks is the best.

The knight's answer was what she most desired, the authority to choose for herself, so
she turn into a beautiful and good wife.
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They have a long and happy marriage, and the wife becomes completely
obedient to her husband.