The Wife Of Bath's Tale Essay

The Canterbury Tales presents a multitude of learned lessons that caters to the imperfections of human nature. At first glance, the Wife of Bath 's tale appears to be apologetic towards a rapist knight, who manages to escape death through redemption and marries a beautiful woman by the end of the tale. However, it is notable that each tale in the Canterbury Tales reveals itself to be an extension of the particular character who is telling it. The Wife of Bath 's tale is a reflection of herself because she clearly relays information in the tale that mirrors her desires of having sovereignty over men, the societal standards of her time, along with her opinions on the legitimacy of interpersonal judgment.

My initial judgement of the knight

She uses the knight to make an example of her husbands. The knight basically endures a lesson that involves his submission to the desires of women, rather than having a woman succumb to his. In her prologue, the Wife describes her manipulative method of passive aggression in order to get what she wants (236-378). If she were a Queen, such as the one in the tale, she more than likely would not have to go to such measures to get whatever she desires from her men. The Queen’s presence in the tale is significant for this very reason, because typical narratives will have the King as the number one decision maker in the

The Wife of Bath frequently states in her prologue her position of religion. Typically, God is referred to as a “He” or “Heavenly Father” who grants mercy to his sinners if they are able to prove their worthiness. This particular theme of higher sovereignty reminds me of the Knight’s tale, where Theseus grants mercy to Palamon and Arcite simply for being knights of the enemy and they later refer to Greek deities to assist them with their situation. Not only does this inference create an entirely new perspective of this recurring theme of female dominance within the Wife of Bath’s tale, but it draws a parallel to the knight seeking the counsel of the old woman to assist him with his situation.

As with the other tales of the Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath’s tale presents itself as a lesson, almost as if it were a fable. It is not clear whether this is her direct intent; her intents appear to be selfish in regards that they only cater to her subjectivity on what could be an important lesson: obey women and good will come to