Wife Of Bath's Tale: Old Age, Appearance, And Feminism

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The Wife of Bath's Tale is the story of a knight who is saved from the disciplinary justice portrayed by the king just to confront the queens rehabilitative justice. This story has issues that we are still debating about today. The knight commits a violent crime and therefore has to have disciplinary actions. There are a tremendous amount of themes in The Wife of Bath’s Tale. The themes that I chose to discuss are old age, appearance, and feminism.

The first theme I chose in the The Wife of Bath’s Tale is old age. The women's old age is what makes her wise and intelligent. The knight inquires her for help because she has the acumen of lived experiences .Towards the end of the story, the elderly women is the one that ends up sparing the knights life. This tale states that old age make one wise and useful. In line 1004 the old women states, “ Sir knight, there is no path that lies this way. Tell me, by your faith, what do you seek? Peradventure it may be better for you; these old people know many things.” She, herself even states that elderly individuals know …show more content…

This theme plays a very important role in this story. The old women who characterized herself as ugly, poor, and old shape shifted into a young fair maiden. The knight gained the knowledge to appreciate individuals for what's within as opposed to what's on the outside. The revolting lady has critical influence in this story. Towards the end of this story, the knight had to give up his sovereignty to his wife which is the elderly lady. However, someone who is of old age does not make for a suitable marriage partner, which is why at the end of she turns into a beautiful young damsel. In line 1256 it says, “ And when the knight saw truly that she was so fair and so young, he clasped her in his two arms for joy, his heart bathed in a bath of bliss.”. This line from the story genuinely demonstrates that appearance truly did make a difference and had an

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