Notes on "The Wife of Bath's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales

Overview

• Author: Geoffrey Chaucer
• Time Period: Written between 1387 and 1400
• Context: Part of a storytelling contest among pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket.

The Wife of Bath

• Significance: Considered a proto-feminist work.
• Character: One of Chaucer's most developed, outspoken characters.
• Prologue: Twice as long as those of other pilgrims.

Key Themes

• Women's Agency and Experience:

  • The Wife argues for the importance of life experience for women.
  • She has been married five times and claims the Bible does not prohibit women from remarrying.
  • Interprets biblical instruction to "go forth and multiply" as freedom to use her body as she chooses.

• Double Standards and Gender Roles:

  • Highlights constraints on women's roles and identities in medieval England.
  • Critiques the limited power afforded to women, dependent on social rank and marital status.

Prologue Details

• Five Husbands:
  • Three "Good Husbands": Rich, old, submissive.
  • Manipulation Tactics: Withholding intimacy, nagging, accusing them of infidelity (despite her own adultery).
  • Two "Bad Husbands":
    • Fourth: Drunk, kept a mistress.
    • Fifth (Jenkin): Kind in bedroom but physically abusive; forced to submit after a violent episode.

The Tale

• Setting: Time of King Arthur.

• Main Plot: Knight's Quest

  • Crime: Knight violates a maiden; crime punishable by death.
  • Trial: Queen offers pardon if he can answer "What do women most desire?"
  • One-Year Quest: Knight searches for answer; receives different responses.
  • Final Encounter: Meets an ugly old woman who provides the correct answer in exchange for a promise.

• Resolution:

  • Answer to the Queen: Women desire sovereignty over their husbands.
  • Marriage to the Crone: Knight is forced to marry her as promised.
  • Choice: Old woman offers choice between her being old and faithful or young and unfaithful.
  • Outcome: Knight lets her choose, and she transforms into a young, beautiful woman.
  • Conclusion: They live happily ever after.

Closing Remarks by the Wife of Bath

• Prays for women to have submissive husbands who satisfy them and that Christ strike down any men who do not.