Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale
The story is a prologue by the wife who shares information about her life experiences. According to her, she has enough experience especially in the subject of marriage. She claims her experience is from the fact that she has been married five different times. However, all of her husbands are dead. According to her, Jesus’ rebuke to the woman at the well who had five husbands as well was uncalled for. The wife disagrees with everyone who thinks that people ought not to marry more than once. Besides, she has biblical evidence to support her views on the subject. She references God’s command to human beings to ‘go forth and multiply’. Apart from that, she points to King Solomon in the bible who was known to have many wives and concubines. Lastly, in her defense of marrying more than once, she points to the Apostle Paul who claimed that it was better for someone to get married than to commit the sin of lust.
The Wife also narrates how during the burial of her fourth husband, she was attracted to a young man (Jankyn) who was a clerk. The two got married in one month. However, after the honeymoon, they got into a big fight. Jankyn was used to reading books that downgraded women. This did not go down well with the Wife. This led to the two getting into a physical altercation. Jankyn hit the Wife who lay down and played dead. Jankyn promised to do anything if she would live. Just as the Wife had ‘controlled’ her four previous husbands, she was able to gain ‘sovereignty’ over Jankyn, her fifth husband.
The story turns to a young knight in King Arthur’s court who rapes a young woman. With the law demanding the beheading for such behavior, the knight begs for his life and the queen gives the knight a year to discover women’s deepest desire. After a year, the knight had not yet found what women desired most. On his way back to be beheaded, he meets an old woman who promises to give him the right answer. In return, he would accept the old woman’s demands. The old woman saves the knight by providing him with the right answer. According to the woman, women most desire power and control over their husbands. In return, the old woman demands that they get married. On the wedding night, the knight tells the old woman that he is not attracted to her because of her appearance. She tells the knight that virtues are more important than looks. The knight kisses the old woman who turns young and they live happily ever after.
The Wife’s tale tries to bring out the hypocrisy in the church as well as its false views of women. She does this by referencing the bible. It is important to note that the tale strongly references what women desire most. From the experiences of the Wife, one can easily tell that women’s deepest desire is somehow connected to being married. This is seen by the Wife’s desire to constantly remarry after the death of all her husbands. However, in the story about the knight, we are shown that women most desire sovereignty over their husbands. This is also evident in the context of the Wife who claims she had sovereignty over all her husbands. The references of women having power over men are seen throughout the story. For example, both the queen and the old woman save the knight’s life. In the end, the knight gives the old woman the power to make a decision showing that he has given up male sovereignty for the sake of the woman.