Fairy Tales: The Wife Of Bath's Tale

Angela Concha Mr. Howard English 4-1 12 December 2014 Elements of a Fairy Tales Most fairy tales happen in the long ago setting, and in the story “A Knights Tale" is no exception. "The Wife of Bath's Tale" uses many of the elements found in a fairy tale to prove her point. In this very sentence states" When good King Arthur ruled in ancient days (a king that every Briton loves to praise) This was a land brim-full of fairy folk" (Chaucer, lines 31-33) like many other fairy tales' those lines show that this story that takes place back in to the early 1800s, when of course King Arthur ruled the land. Many fairy tales have kings and queens, and in this special story has its King Arthur and his Queen Guinevere, living in a large kingdom with their

The king was like the judge and his court man were the jurors when it came to very serious crimes or bad negation throughout the people in the kingdom. Many tales that happen long ago introduce magical animals, witches, and this tale has no exception as well; it has magical fairies. "He saw a dance upon the leafy floor of four and twenty ladies, nay, and more." "Dancers and dance all vanished into air!" (Chaucer, line 168-172). Magic plays the biggest part in any fairy tale, without magic how could you find the answer to your problem when you would not have anything to believe

Now that the knight has the final answer to his quest he returns to the castle. “A woman wants the self-same sovereignty over her husband as over her Lover. And master him; he must not be above her. That is your greatest wish” (Chaucer, lines 215-217). Without the old woman help the knight would have never found the answer to his quest, the aid that the fairy gave to the knight had a deal that lay behind it. When you mess with magic to help solve your answers or problems; you must pay the ultimate price. “’Twas I who taught this answer to the knight, For which he swore, and pledged his honor” (Chaucer, lines 226-227). The deal that was lying behind the aid of the fairy was that she wanted to marry the knight, if he were to honor his word to her. The old woman is ready for her deal with the knight, which he is to marry her and to hope the knight will keep his word like he said he promise. Every fairy tale has a happy ending, but this tale has a bit of a twist to their happily ever after. So in the knight keeping his word to the “old woman”, she wanted to do a very magical thing for him. “And when indeed the knight had looked to see, Lo, she was young and lovely, rich in charms.” (Chaucer, lines