The Wife of Bath, in my opinion, is one of Chaucer's wisest characters. I am somewhat
surprised that he made up such a character, as he was writing these tales in the early
fourteenth century. She took what she did have, which was wit and wisdom, and used it
to her advantage. Although she was assumed to be an ugly old woman, she had five
husbands all of whom she had mastered only to have them die. She personifies the
character that women of her era secretly aspired to, however because of the restrictions
imposed upon them by society, they could not be the Wife of Bath.
She is obviously a very strong woman and knows what she wants. "Experience, though no
authority were in this world, were good enough for me, To speak of woe that is in all
marriage"(Chaucer, 103) as she states in the introduction to her tale. She is a self
professed authority on the etiquette of marriage. Her extensive knowledge and education
on matters of the heart have been acquired through experience, and through the
conventional means of learning.
Through her tale she explains herself, in a sense. She speaks of a wise, but ugly old
woman. A handsome young knight happens upon the old woman. She asks him what he is
seeking. The young knight explains to her that he, as punishment, was sent on a quest to
discover what women desire most. The old woman's answer is a simple but costly one. In
exchange for her assistance, the old woman demands that he oblige her one request. The
knight hastily agrees that he will allow her the request. Thus, she has taken her wisdom
and used it to her advantage, much like the Wife of Bath. The tale is filled with
similarities between the Wife of Bath and the old woman. The reason why the Wife of Bath
tells this tale, it seems, is to take the audience into her own way of seeing the world.
She tells this tale with many parallels to her own life in hopes to make the listeners
see that women are meant to be heard. They have good insight into the world. The wise,
old woman obviously has gained a wealth of knowledge from her years of experience to be
deemed a reliable source of information and, fatefully the knight takes her advice
without question.
The Wife of Bath is pleading the emancipation of women and the inaccurate perception of
beauty. She is able to create a tale where the woman's voice is heard and she gets what
she wants. The beauty part comes in only because after the old woman tells the knight
that her request is for him to take her hand in marriage, with the promise that she will
be faithfully devoted. The knight agrees but is disgusted with her ugliness. She
explains to him that it is better to have a wife who is good on the inside and will
virtually do anything for him, than to have a wife whom other men will leer at, with more
of a chance that she will be unfaithful to him. He sees her point, but still unsure of
how he feels about the situation, he tells her to choose, of course she wants him to
have her, ugliness and all. The Wife of Bath includes this part because even though she
is painfully unattractive she was still able to cunningly manipulate and master her
husbands.
The twist to the tale is that, after all the talk about why outer beauty is not an
important part of being a good wife, the ugly old woman turns into a beautiful young
woman. The tale's joyful ending is a surprising and unpredictable one. It didn't seem
to fit into the Wife of Bath's own life. However, in reexamining the tale, I realized
that in the tale, the beauty was apparent and consistent throughout. In the Wife's own
life, it was subtle and was the kind of beauty that her five husbands saw after being
subjected to her cunning and charming ways.
Aside from the tale she tells, there are many things about her that Chaucer explains in
her prologue. Although she is regarded as promiscuous, as throughout her life she has
possessed a man to please her. The people that see her as that, are probably the men who
think that women should succumb to men and that men should have control over their wives.
The Wife of Bath is someone who, in that time period, was viewed as a whore who didn't
have morals. The individuals that comprise Chaucer's contemporary audience undoubtably
found this character as eccentric and scandalously bold. Chaucer obviously thought
differently.
Although Chaucer describes her character as questionable, it is evident that he admires
the attributes that he bestows on the Wife of Bath. After all, what person wouldn't want
to be able to voice their opinion so clearly? Who wouldn't want to be in control of the
situations they put themselves in? She is a strong, independent, passionate and sensual
woman. She is determined in her convictions and subsequently she often attains all she
desires regardless of what people think of her.
Although each pilgrim's story has a lesson to be learned, the Wife of Bath's tale is a
lesson that I, as a woman, deem important. The lesson that I received from the tale is
the weighted value of the wisdom gained through experience and age as opposed to the
undeserved consideration afforded to the empty superficiality of apparent beauty.
Further, the tale shows the need for women to be more assertive and establish an equality
within their relationships.
The Wife of Bath, in my opinion, has many virtues that women want today. I am also sure
that women in Chaucer's time wanted to have some of her characteristics as well. I would
think that this tale would appeal to women because control is a pressing issue for us.
Men are probably not as taken by this woman because they also have a need for control.
The Wife of Bath lived in a world where there was a strong hatred of women. Virtually,
women were bad and evil. They gave into temptation and sexual appetite. The Wife of
Bath was simply, a woman whom men feared because, not only was she intelligent and
religious, she used these attributes to her advantage and managed to rationalize her
sexual appetite through quotes from the bible, "I know well Abraham was holy man, And
Jacob, too, as far as know I can; And each of them had spouses more than two; and many
another holy man also. Or can you say that you have ever heard That God has ever by His
express word Marriage forbidden? Pray you, now, tell me; Or where commanded He
virginity?" (104). This, most likely, would throw most men off. The young male pilgrims
on the trip to Canterbury wanted to learn about women. It frustrated them, because they
were ignorant when it came to what women wanted. She decided that she would teach them a
little bit because she thought they needed to know.
She knew about these things because of her experience, she had lived a full life of love
and knew the corners in which love crept. She goes on to explain in her prologue that we
all want what we cannot have and once we get it we do not want it anymore. She has used
the men in her life for riches and happened upon her fifth husband whom she loved only
because he did not give much love back to her.
All the reasons described above are why the Wife of Bath was a remarkable and different
woman. She leans toward a feminist nature and seems resentful toward men. For women,
she is easy to respect and look up to for advice. For men, she is an intelligent woman
but may not know the limits of her games.
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