"The Canterbury Tales": The Wife of Bath

Today, we began the story of the Wife of Bath.

We began with our warm-up and discussed how the characters Chaucer presents to us in the prologue do and do not fit the expectations or stereotypes we have of them. Check our powerpoint below for responses from each class.



One big reason we discussed stereotypes to start is because the Wife of Bath is someone who does not completely live up to the stereotypes and expectations that medieval society has for her nor does she really care much about that.

Women in this period were supposed to be:

• Coy
• Submissive
• Uneducated
• Timid
• Married
• Dependent on their husband or family

The Wife of Bath is a woman who is well-traveled, wealthy, bold, self-important, and direct. She openly discusses her sexual history and her past marriages (she states she has had 5 husbands, but she has had more than 10 lovers or husbands during her life). In her prologue, she says these marriages and relationships have made her an expert in marriage, love, and sex. The Pardoner even asks her to share her story so that men such as himself can learn a thing or two, despite also saying he assumed he would never marry if he had to live having to do what his wife told him to.



To read the Wife of Bath's Tale and her prologue, you can click HERE.

For those of you reviewing or those who were absent, just a few important points (NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR READING):

• The Wife of Bath's view on marriage isn't really completely clear until the end of the tale when she gives a suggestion at how love can change people and how marriage should be.
• The Wife of Bath has had 5 official husbands, but has had many more lovers and relationships. In the full version of the tales, it is said that her experience in relationships began at the age of 12. A girl who was forced to mature at such a young age will understandably have a less romantic view of such matters.
• Before the Wife even begins her story, she tells the group to not let it offend them because it's just a story. She knows that her story will probably offend them because it will challenge the ideas they hold about women and nobility. She is trying to increase her credibility. 
• When the Wife's tale begins, she starts by insulting the Friar who, we learn in the Prologue, is a really gross old man who pursues young women even though he isn't supposed to. Then, she transitions to a knight (a different knight than the one from the prologue) who sexually violates a young woman just because he can.
• At a few points during the story, she drifts off into other famous stories. Again, she is trying to build her credibility by showing her level of education and intelligence. Only about 1% of women in the medieval period could read or write, but the Wife knows stories written in Latin by ancient Roman writers! 
• The knight feels no real shame for the crime he has committed. His sadness and sorrow are all focused on himself. He feels sad because he might die and then later because he is forced to marry someone who isn't very attractive, is poor, old, and low class.
• The old woman gives the knight a long lesson that being rich, attractive, and upper class don't mean anything if you have a bad attitude or do terrible things. She tries to point out to the knight that deep down, he's kind of a turd wrapped in armor because he does things like rape young women, then complain when someone helps save his life because he actually has to hold up his end of the deal!

• Ultimately, the answer to the question of what women most desire is also the answer to a question regarding what love truly is. The rules of courtly love are sometimes contradictory, but they also circle around an idea of sacrifice in the name of someone's beloved. To give up control, the Wife suggests, is the true meaning of love. 
• That crazy, ridiculous, somewhat unfair ending? It illustrates how love can change someone. Consider how the woman changes physically and how the knight changes in his behavior and personality. 

There! Now you're up to speed! We will be starting in on the Pardoner's Tale next week and we won't have much time to slow down, so make sure you get yourself caught up before coming back to class!