The Moral Of Wife Of Bath

Who is superior, man or woman? In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, situated in the 14th century, at this point in time there was a big difference in society between man and woman. Woman used to be the housekeepers, and did not have any independence from men. This aspect has been changing over the time as we get closer to the 21st century, women have been gaining respect and equality similar to men, and nowadays women can have the same jobs that men have.

Women in the medieval times were commonly known as having no power and always looking to men to be the leader in not only the economy, but also in the marriage. The Wife of Bath’s tale and prologue contradict this view in a way like no other. The Wife lived a life completely opposite of what was normal during the medieval time period. She even made the Pardoner doubt whether he should get married, because he feared his wife would control him like the wife of bath’s did her husbands. The Wife of Bath’s prologue included her

THE WIFE OF BATH’S HAS BAWDY, LUSTY AND HER WHOLE MIND SET IS BASICALLY ABOUT GREED. SHE REFUSES TO ALLOW MEN TO CONTROL HER EXISTENCE AND SHE TAKES MEASURES TO SHAPE HER OWN DESTINY.

The topics of marriage, virginity, and women’s desire of sovereignty are discussed and interpreted by the Wife of Bath throughout her tale. She suggests that women should have complete control and tells how she got the upper hand with each of her marriages. The way to the Wife of Bath dresses shows that she was a lustful person of her time. Her clothing symbolizes that she is not shy or scared, and shows off that she is wealthy. The Wife of Bath shows her views on controlling husbands when she says “...And-Jesu hear my prayer!-cut short the lives of those who won't be governed by their wives; And all old, angry niggards of their pence, God send them soon a very pestilence!”

The Wife of Bath wanted all the power in the relationship. She believed that she should be over all the money and make all the decisions. “She has all the power in the relationship and she accuses of

The Wife of Bath gives a clear sense on how to control her marriages. Since she was a beautiful, young girl, the Wife of Bath simply had to lure in certain men. Of her five marriages, the Wife of Bath describes her first three marriages as one. Line 197 of the tale says, “The thre men were goode and riche and olde.” The three men of her first three marriages were rich and old which conveys the Wife of Bath is attracted to these certain males because of their easily-manipulated personalities.

As we see in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” a woman was expected to have only one husband in her lifetime, and also to obey him while fulfilling his needs. Using the words above, the wife introduces her tale to the readers. The wife mentions she has been married five times: “Thou hast yhad five housbondes.” This is the opposite of the ideal woman in medieval times. The above passage reflects The Wife of Bath’s idea towards women and gives the reader insight into how they are interpreted in literature.

She is very often in some sort of relationship. While, women typically were seen to be submissive to their husbands, the Wife of Bath is not. She is outspoken, manipulative, and never passive. She notices that her fourth husband is cheating on her and she is too proud to be idle and not do anything about it. As a result of each marriage and her “experience” that she often alludes to, the Wife of Bath learns to be independent and to fend for herself. Although she is often bound to a contract of marriage, she does whatever she needs to do to look out for herself. In fact, the Wife of Bath takes pride in this independence and

In the Wife of Bath 's tale, the main idea we can get is that women want dominance over men (Chaucer 143). Back in Medieval England, I think it would have been a far fetched idea for women to have dominance over men. For most of history, we see women being a submissive partner to a strong and noble man. Dominance over the noble husband would be a fantasy that a wife could only dream of because she knew it would never happen. If you were to fast forward to the 1900’s, a typical household still consists of a mom, dad, and a number of children. You keep the general idea of the dad going off to work while the kids catch a bus or walk to school. During this time period however, you still don’t see a lot women going out of the house in uniforms because their job is to stay at home and take care of the house. However at this point in time, some women are going out to get an education. By getting an education, it will help give women a better shot at getting successful jobs. Although there is still discrimination against women, they now have the capability to go out and get a job because they have the knowledge to do so.

The wife of Bath’s tale poses one question, “-what is the thing that women most desire?” (282). This question is later answered; “A woman wants the self-same sovereignty over her husband as over her lover, and master him; he must not be above her,” 286). This corresponds with the wife’s history and beliefs as shown her previously mentioned incident with her fifth husband. The wife was only pleased when she won the power struggle.

She has not allowed her first four husbands to rule over her but in fact has turned the tide and convinced them that she should have full control. Control in the Middle ages marriage was determined by the one who controlled the wealth within the union. Her story mirrors that of the knights tale which she tells. The knight rapes a maiden and was forced to marry her, the same knight professes to know what women want, rule over men. Chaucer’s description of the wife of Bath is sexually suggestive; she is overdressed and proud and seems to invite attention. In truth it seems that she is unlike other women in that she wishes to use her body to control men. She feels that her husband should worship her and feel as though he is subservient to her. She also feels as though she knows everything there is to know about love and sex and this gives her a feeling of

In "The Wife of Bath's Tale", sovereignty is the major subject that is dealt with in the marriage situation. The knight, in search of the correct answer of what women most desire in life, stumbles upon an old hag with the answer. In exchange for the answer, the knight is forced to marry the woman. The woman desires sovereignty over her husband, which is selfish and inconsiderate.

The wife of bath makes it a priority to address the patriarchal binary within marriages that relegates women as inferior submissive wives to their superior dominant husbands. She spends a great portion of her prologue talking about her marriages and her relationships with her husbands. As opposed to being the pious woman, mother and home maker she was expected to be, the Wife of Bath manipulated the institution of marriage, exploiting it to accumulate wealth and power. She understands that as a woman she is a commodity and that the only true power she held was her sexuality. She uses this to her advantage in a way that benefits her most. One manner in which she wields this power is by withholding sex in order to gain dominance over her husband.

The Wife of Bath’s Tale plot is a basic set up with exposition, rising action, complication, climax, suspense, and denouement. The exposition starts out with the knight finding what most women desire. Then goes onto the rising action of finding an old women, who knows the answer to the queen’s question, but faces complication when the old women forces the knight to marry her. The climax is when the old women gives the knight two choices, an ugly faithful women, or a beautiful unfaithful women. Then faces suspense when the old women is allowed to choose the women she wants to be, but then faces the denouement when the old women is pleased with the knights response.

During the prologue of The Wife of Bath’s Tale, the wife discusses her thoughts on roles between males and females within relationships. She discusses this idea by hitting on two different points of view, power and religious ideology. The wife talks about all five of her marriages and how she gained power and control within those relationships by using her body;