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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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"The Wife Of Bath." Essayworld.com. September 5, 2008. Accessed December 1, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Wife-Of-Bath/89484.
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