Wife of Bath- Carleigh

## Summaries

### Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet for the middle ages. While, his writing was mostly for pleasure, his works brought him to be known as "The Father of English Literature". His most well-known pieces are the Canterbury tales. These tales are all told by characters based on the stereotypes back then ranging in class level, religious standing, and social standing.

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### Wife of Bath

The Wife of Bath is one of the 24 pilgrims whose story is told within the Canterbury tales. She was a high class woman who felt she was a master of love, relationships, and all things in between. She had five husbands before the story, and was looking for a sixth. She was a seamstress, and the epitome of beauty at the time. The Wife of Bath was a full-figured woman, dressed in the brightest of colors (down to her red stockings). Chaucer also mentioned the fact that she had a gap between her teeth, which she was very proud of. She's a smart women, who understands the Bible in her own way. She uses her wits and ability to manipulate scripture to tell her tale.

### Her Tale Summarized

One of the knights from King Arthur's court sexually assaults a beautiful maiden he felt he couldn't keep his hands off of. Due to his crime, the king almost sentences him to death immediately. Lucky enough for the knight, the queen stopped the king, and gave the knight a year to come up with an answer to her question, or die. She asked him to figure out what it is women desire most in the world.

He wanders England, asking every woman he comes across what they might desire most in this world. He never got a consistent answer. The Wife of Bath, however, said it was obvious. An older woman in her tale said that women want control, to be in charge, of their marriages. She uses the story of Ovid's Midas as proof.

The knight brought the old woman along with him as the went before their majesties once again. He told the queen exactly what he was told by the old woman. The queen spares his life, but has him marry the old woman, as per the old woman's request.

A while after they were married, the knight was very miserable in their relationship because the old woman was ugly. She then explained to him that her ugliness meant she was loyal, and that he should rather have loyal than beautiful. From then on they had a content marriage.

## Wife of Bath's Life in General

### A Day in the Life of the Wife of Bath

The Wife of Bath's life would be pretty easy. Most of her days are spent lavishly. She spend time sewing, tailoring, and more as a seamstress. Then afterward, she spends much of her time with her husbands, flirting with younger men, and twisting up stories in her mind.

### Personality

The Wife of Bath is a bit of a wayward soul. She does what she wants and what pleases her. She will find the ways to justify her actions, too.

## Chaucer's Opinion

Chaucer writes about The Wife of Bath as a good woman, and a devoted Christian. It's obvious when you read through the rest of the story, that isn't exactly true. These descriptions are clearly just how she thinks of herself, and tries to make her self appear. Chaucer along the way leaves hints that she isn't quite as pure as she tries to justify herself to be. Her "gap-tooth" is a clear example of this, her misinterpretations of the Bible are, too. All of the characters in the tales are supposed to be based off of common stereotypes from the Middle Ages, but I feel The Wife of Bath's character is still one we see today. A wealthy person who does what they want, and cherry picks their reasoning, or just misconstrues it to get their way.

## Bonus: A Comparison of Two Englishes

As you may have picked up by now, Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales in Middle English. In case you wanted a quick glimpse at what that might look like compared to Modern English, look no further. Here's a list of a few words that have changed since.

ynough - Enough

mariage - Marriage

yeer - Yeer

myghte - Might

thonked - Thought

lordynges - Gentlemen

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Journey - http://wearejourney.co.uk. "Chaucer and His Tales." *Canterbury Tales*, Continuum Attractions, www.canterburytales.org.uk/about/chaucer-and-tales/.
2. ↑ Shmoop.com. (2018). *The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale Summary*. [online] Available at: https://www.shmoop.com/the-wife-of-baths-tale/summary.html [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].
3. ↑ Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The General Prologue.” *Chaucer: The General Prologue - An Interlinear Translation*, sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/gp-par.htm.
4. ↑ Chaucer, G. (n.d.). The Wife of Bath's Prologue. Retrieved from https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/wbt-par.htm#PROLOGUE