Assignment : The Wife of Bath’s prologue and tale

The Wife of Bath is a character from the iconic poem “The Canterbury tales “ by Geoffrey
Chaucer. She remains memorable due to her constant challenging of sexist stereotypes that
were beyond prevalent in the time period in which the action is set ( thus many feminist
writings and articles being centered around her build as a character , for example Alexandra
Melville’s “Gender and sexuality, faith and religion”). Even if the wife of Bath herself is
based off of said preconceptions of what a lustful woman should look like (“her kerchiefs
were of finest weave and ground”, “her hose were of the choicest scarlet red” “bold was her
face and fair, and red of hue”) , she is seen constantly putting them under scrutiny. The most
fascinating and unique trait of hers, especially in old English literature standards, is the way
she fights the clerks and the churchmen who relentlessly judge her with their own weapons,
those being subjective interpretations of the Scripture and also cherry-picking from it. Instead
of focusing on the passages that impose purity, she chooses to shed light on the ones who
command us to “grow fruitful and multiply”.
The final part of the wife of Bath’s prologue focuses on her 5th husband, Jankyn, and her
tumultuous relationship with him. He breaks the mould with the way in which he is
diametrically different from her other husbands: he is neither rich, old nor easy to manipulate.
Yet , as infuriating as he is, she states that he was the only husband she truly loved (her
infatuation with him might have stemmed from her need to prove that in spite of her age, she
could “tame “ a young man). Not only that, but he is also a clerk: educated, yet deeply sexist,
which becomes apparent due to his reading a book filled with slander towards women (“read
on his book…of Eve first , how for her wickedness all mankind was brought to
wretchedness…you may find that woman was the cause of the loss of all mankind.”). This
enrages his much older spouse to no end , rightfully so, and climaxes one night when she rips
out 3 pages from his book just so she could then punch him in the face.(“I with my fist so hit
him on the cheek”). Jankyn reciprocates the abuse, striking her so hard that her hearing would
forever be impaired, moment in which she pretends being close to her demise yet wanting
one more kiss from him. When he kneels to grant her her “dying wish” , she batters him
again. They settle their fiery argument with Jankyn surrendering his wordly possesions to
her , her gaining power over him finally. Thus ,it is debatable whether this depiction of
womanhood challenges sexist stereotypes or reinforces them.
The prologue associated with this character is longer than the tale itself, and that is because
the prologue makes the woman’s stance clear, stance that will be the basis of her tale: women
crave “sovereignty” over their male partners. But that only scratches the surface, as many
more elements coincide. The hag is an idealized version of the wife of Bath and how she
perceives herself : no matter the aging process , she still views herself as potent and
vigorous , the old age only contributing to deepening her wisdom. Both parts of the poem
contain a man getting punished by women, whether it is Jankyn or the knight . Another
similarity is peace being acquired only when the man surrenders to his spouse (My lady and
my love, and wife so dear, I put me in your wise governance”). It is also notable how the wife
of Bath mentions women being unable to keep a secret(“Still, this example shows that
women can’t keep secrets because it’s only a matter of time before we let them slip out.”),
fact that reinforces the theory stating that her character might not be as feminist as it seems.
As a conclusion, the wife of Bath is for sure a character that does not go unnoticed and that
can spark serious debates regarding her build.

*All the citations between brackets are from translated versions of “ The Canterbury tales”.