February 11: The Wife of Bath’s Tale

The Wife’s tale comes to an end as the old lady magically transforms into a fair maiden and the rapey knight’s wish comes true. In this arrangement as the hag puts it, “thannee have I gete of yow maistre,” (1237), reinforcing both the prologue and tale’s message of female authority. How do you interpret Chaucer’s use of the untraditional women as a protagonist? How would these values be received by both the clergy and state?

8 thoughts on “February 11: The Wife of Bath’s Tale

  1. I would argue that there actually is no inherently “traditional” woman, but that a traditional woman is a female norm established and perpetuated by the clergy and the state. For example, when the knight goes to inquire of a woman’s utmost desire, he finds no two women to be in agreement; “[somme seyn] a man shal wynne us best with flaterye / And with attendance and with bisynesse … / And somme seyn that we loven best / For to be free and so do right” (ll. 932-6). The old lady is, however, untraditional in her beauty, “so wo was [the knight], his wyf looked so foule” (ll. 1082). The use of the old lady as one of the tale’s protagonists is significant because, from a feminist reading, it presents an untraditional (read: progressive) woman challenging traditional norms. Obviously the state and clergy could see this as problematic, especially when “wommen desiren to have sovereynetee / As wel over hir housbond as hir love / And for to been in maistrie hym above” (ll. 1038-40). Women traditionally had subservient roles in state and church affairs, a role often exacerbated by her husband. When women began to challenge their subservient roles in a domestic setting, their next frontier would inevitably political and/or religious, thus seen as a problem by the considerably “traditional” institutions of church and state.

  2. Even though the Wife of Bath can be seen as a sort of feminist character, I almost feel as if Chaucer is mostly making fun of women throughout her prologue and tale. The Wife of Bath proclaims that women always want what they can’t have, they “kan no conseil hyde” (980), and all they desire is to have full control over men. It’s almost as if Chaucer is writing this for an audience among the clergy and state who might laugh and say, “Oh, silly women.” And ultimately, the rapist knight gets a beautiful young wife in the end who “obeyed hym in everythyng / That myghte doon hym plesance or likyng” (1256-1257). I question who is really the “protagonist” in this story, if there even is one at all, and if Chaucer wrote this tale to highlight the inferiority of women at the time.

    • I have to agree. You’d think that if the Wife of Bath was truly a feminist tale, then the Knight should have been punished for being a rapist, not rewarded with a beautiful and apparently magical wife. In lines 1219-28 the old woman gives the knight the choice of her being a loyal wife and ugly or being beautiful and an adulteress. When the knight concedes that she can make the decision, she chooses to be beautiful and true to him. While it may outwardly seem kind of romantic, this woman emotionally manipulates him into compliance. Perhaps this is meant to be some kind of lesson to him for being a rapist. However, if that’s the case, having an ugly wife for a little while seems like a very light punishment for seeking carnal knowledge through force. Furthermore, the fact that that is his punishment seems to portray women as objects of a man’s possession, and the prettier your woman is, the more worth she is to you.

      • I think the story is more subversive than you’re giving credit. No, it’s not a feminist’s tale in today’s standards, but at the time it seemed that literature like this was new. The Wife of Bath’s prologue and tale were not only lead by a woman narrator, but both were solely about women and what they want. Having a very sexual, very honest and open woman who is not demure or ashamed of herself hasn’t been seen in any of the literature until Chaucer, where he wrote Alisoun in the Miller’s Tale.
        The whole story is based around a horrible knight who learns his lesson. No, he doesn’t get punished as a rapist would today, but in the story the r*pe (I wasn’t allowed to post the actual word?) is representative of a man who must control women through power and force, a man who doesn’t understand or care about women. It is in line 901 that the women begin taking control “back” from the knight, beginning with Queen Guenivere ordering the knight recompense for his crime by finding what women actually want. Line 914, the knight feels the weight of the decision and is apprehensive about what he must do. He knows he’s being punished and that his answer is contingent on what the Queen decides is correct or not. If he fails, he gets killed. His life rests in the hands of a woman- if that doesn’t give women in Chaucer’s story agency, I don’t know what would.

        • I too, would agree that this story is more subversive then we may think. Considering the features of courtly love typically seen during this time, it appears that in many ways Chaucer twists the roles of knight and “lady.” At the end of the day, the female figure was subservient to the man, but Chaucer certainly gave the women in the story more agency throughout. This feels much removed from a Brenton Lai romance like Sir Orfeo, where Queen Heurodis waits around to be rescued by her king. In the Wife of Bath’s tale, the female characters’ voice is a part of the dialogue and plot.

  3. In the Wife of Bath’s tale, I liked that the knight’s life was forfeit and was only saved by the grace and mercy of Queen Guinevere. She and her handmaidens “so long preyden the kyng of grace, / til he his lyf him graunted” and she then poses the quest to him (895-896). The answer she ultimately receives – that women desire to have sovereignty over their lives and their husbands’ – affirms the sentiments the Wife of Bath previously expressed. This seems to show that Chaucer endorses this view, but at the end of the tale, the knight’s wife submits to his control. For a tale that placed such a high importance on the freedom of women to choose their path, the ending takes a sudden turn and subverts the previously-established moral. The ending conforms to the values of the day, showing women as subservient to men, which would have pleased the authoritative institutions of the day, the clergy and the state.

  4. I think apart from potential Chaucer feminism, I found the female perspective in Wife of Bath to be more realist (or magical realist really). I found it to be sort of a dark take on Arthurian society, especially on the account that our main character is a convicted rapist, undeservingly helped by a woman, and then complains when in order to not die he must marry her. Though the tale gives stock to the desires, needs and rights of women, the ending also acknowledges that women will never have complete sovereignty. This shows that though the women may sometimes grasp at what they want- to influence and control men- they must at the end of the day submit somehow to keep things on an even keel. I frankly don’t think the clergy would approve of the knight, thought they may also disapprove of the injustice of his rewarded treatment at the end. They may also not want to acknowledge the wiseness and foresight of the Wife of Bath.

    • I really like what you’re saying here and agree completely on the topic of the acknowledgment of women. I also think that the clergy had a very strong idea of what a godly woman should be. Submissive to their husbands, seen but not heard kind of thing. After all, the medieval world is one run by men. I think that the independence of the Wife of Bath would horrify the clergy. I also think that the women in the story seek a sense of independence, which would be suggested by the desire to control their husbands. The state and the clergy might find this kind of behavior sacrilegious. However, I also think that the women of this time might find both the Wife of Bath and the women in the story empowering and people to look up to since they can do what they cannot.

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