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Kaitlin Sowell
Dr. Dennis Siler
ENGL 3243
30 April 2015

The Wife Of Bath seen as a Feminist.

In Geoffrey Chaucer s collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales the main

character in the Wife of Bath, Alisoun but better known as the Wife of Bath is described
in the Canterbury Tales Prologue as :
A good WIFE was there of besid Bath,
But she was somedeal deaf, and that was scathe.
Of clothmaking she haddeuch a haunt,
She passd them of Ypres and of Gaunt.
In all the parish, wife ne was there noon
That to the offering before her shoulde goon,
And if there did, certain so wroth was she
That she was out of alle charitee.
Hir coverchiefs full fine were of grounddorst swear they weighdn ten pound
That on a Sonday weren upon hir heed.
Her hosn wern of fine scarlet reed,
Ful straite yteyd, and shoes ful moiste and newe.

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Bold was hir face and fair and reed of hewe.
She was a worthy woman al hir live.
Husbands at chirche dore she hadde five. (447-62)

But in Feministic views she is a strong female character who uses manipulative sex,
speech, and constant marriages to obtain power in her life. By doing this she helps to
carry on the negative stereotypes of women that were interpreted by many male writers
during the Middle Ages. The fact that she is fighting against the social norms of women
during her time in such a commanding and self-confident way proves to the readers that
the Wife of Bath herself is a feminist character. The Wife of Bath confronts three serious
social issues during this time period. The first is the negativity associated with women
and sex, the second is the structure of marriages that places women at the bottom as a
possession and men at the top as dominant owners, and the third is physical and sexual
violence done by men to women. . The Wife of Bath delivers theses ideas in both the
prologue and the tale. During her tale she feeds off all of the topics of sex, marriage, and
violence that she first uses in her Prologue, and then presents them in a humorous
entertaining style, which in a way mocks her mostly male audience during this time.

The Wife of Bath begins her prologue by telling her audience that she has had
experience(1) because she has had Husbands at chirche dore I have had five (6) .By
saying that she is experienced and has had five husbands she is letting her listeners know
that she has had a great deal of sex. The word experience[d](1) is one of the many
sexual euphemisms she uses in her prologue and tale. She uses the amount of times she

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has been married to her advantage to support her reason for having many multiple sex
partners. She states I wol bistowe the flour of myn age, in the acts and in fruyt of
mariage" (119-120). This is where her feministic attitude comes into action by standing
up and saying that this is her virginity and it is hers to give at any age to all of her
marriages. Because she has been married so many times technically her flour is
nonexistent considering the number of husbands she has had. However, During the
Middle Ages it was believed, usually interpreted from the bible, that women were not
allowed to have sexual relations outside of marriage and because of this idea when she is
so vocal about her sexual acts it has put her in a line of negativity. The Wife defends the
rights of woman to have multiple marriages and sex partners by using the one thing that
people used to fight against her , the Bible. During the prologue she references the bible
many times for instances she states God Bad us to wexe and multiplyee (28). This
meaning that it is Gods intention for humans to have sex for reproduction. These are not
normal traits that were associated with women during this time period. Women were
supposed to be modest, inexperienced, and all together uninterested in sex, which is the
complete opposite of The Wife of Bath. She is experience[d], and plans to use her sex
as God intended her too.

The second topic of controversy that she points out is the hierarchy of marriage.
She believes that husbands should be submissive to their wives. An example of her
expressing this perspective is when she is theoretically addressing a husband, Com neer
my spouse, lat me ba [kiss] thy cheeke-/ Ye shoulden be al pacient and meeke (440-41).
In these lines she is expressing that men should be compliant towards their wives. This

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idea of switching the controlling power to the female is made most clear in her fifth
marriage to Janekin. This over dominant man tries to make the Wife of Bath feel as weak
as possible by reading to her the most sexist passages out of the bible. When she tears out
the pages from his religious book and he hits her she says that, I nolde forbere him in no
cas (671). The wife refuses to allow her husband to take control over her no matter what.
This ideal of being the dominant spouse in the relationship was evident in her other
marriages as well. She withheld sex from her first husband and she made Jankien feel so
guilty for hitting her that he gave her all of the control. This is very relatable to feminism
because she used the manipulations as powerful tools to be the one in control.

The final topic that is presented is violence done by men towards women. In the
Middle Ages it was not a crime to hit a woman, rape a woman, or even to kill a woman; ,
especially if she had been unfaithful. A wife was seen as a mans property. He was
allowed to do anything he wished with her. If a woman was unmarried she was the
property of her father. Of course there were some exceptions for example, it was not
legal to rape a high class or royal women, but their husbands could still hit them or have
them killed if they committed adultery. It was These violent practices that made it
amazing for the Wife of Bath to stand up against this idea that women should be
controlled. When Jankien hit her and caused her to go deaf in one ear, she refused to act
respectful towards him. She even hit him back: I hit him on the cheeke (814). Her
inability to act in her own life for independence was more shown more throughout her
tale then within her prologue. Her tale encompasses all of the controversial topics
presented in her Prologue and because it is a fictional story, she is able to live happily in

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control through her female characters of the wife and Guinevere in her tale.

The story takes place during King Arthurs time and rule. One of Arthurs knights
was riding home one afternoon and happened by a traveling maiden. He mistakenly took
her to be a peasant and raped her. As was said earlier, it was legal to rape a peasant but
not a high class or royal women. This woman who was attacked was of high class and so
the knight had broken the law, a crime that usually held the penalty of death. However the
queen interfered and made a deal with the knight. If he could find out before a year and
ten days were up, what it is that women desire most, she would spare his life. This knight,
who represents the horrific violent treatment of women, is placed in the most helpless
position of obedience under a woman named Guinevere .This idea that women have
power over men happens consistently throughout this tale to send the message that the
Wife of Bath strongly believes that men should submit to women. By having her main
character be a man of such high authority, a knight of the Round Table, and to have him
commit one of the most outrageous acts of violence towards women during this time
makes his obedience first to Guinevere and later to the women who becomes his wife
symbolize much more power for women. Next the knight ventures off to find out what it
is that women desire most. After talking to many different women to no avail he comes
across a haggard, old, deformed woman who said to him that she will tell him what
women desire most if he agrees to marry her. The knight was very upset because this
woman was so hideous, but he didnt want to die, so he agreed. When the knight went to
the queen he told her:
My liege lady, generally

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Wommen desire to have sovereintee
As wel over hir housbonde as hir love,
And for to been in maiystrye him above.
This is youre moste desir though ye me kille.
Dooth as you list: I am here at youre wille (1043-48)

The hideous woman had told him that women desired to have dominance over their
husbands, and by making him agree to be her husband, the knight would now be forced to
fulfill that desire to her. When speaking to Guinevere about what he learned, his last lines
I am here at youre wille (1048) show his loyal obedience to the queen. On the night of
the wedding to his now wife she offers him a new deal because she is able to see he
doesnt want to sleep with her due to her looks. Her deal was that she could either be
totally obedient to him as long as she is able to remain ugly or she will become
extraordinarily beautiful if he gives her complete control. Connecting ugliness to female
control and beauty with female power supports feminist ideals. . The knight responds by
saying, I putte me in youre wise governaunce:/ Chooseth yourself which may be most
pleaunce (1237-38). By saying it is up to her to choose, he is giving up his dominant
role and giving her the control without realizing it . Because it was the agreement that if
he submitted to her she would become attractive, that is what happens.

At the end of the story, his wife tells him that since he gave her control she will
now give it back and do as he likes. What in reality has happened is the knight has gone
from a male dominant figure, to an obedient slave to woman and then back to holding the

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role of power. The problem now is when she is allowing him to take back his power.
Since she is giving back the control over her self but because she made the choice to give
him back his power and ultimately put him in charge, and because she is always in
control of how their relationship works, she ultimately still holds full dominance.

The Wife of Bath's story confronts many ideas. It tells a story of a woman who is
not only comfortable in her sexuality enough to talk about it but also brave enough to let
her opinions be known. The Wife of Bath is a woman who blossomed before her time in
the sense that she is confident in her ability to get get exactly what she wants from life .
Many people would look down on her then, and even today, as being a feminist.
However, she is more of an honest woman searching for control over her own desires The
Wife of Baths Tale combines all of the important topics she brings up in the Prologue
and adds them into the moral of the story.. The idea for female sexuality is displayed
through the Wife of Baths character who is confident and highly interested in her sexual
encounters. The violence of men against women is shown through the knights rape of the
peasant maiden, and the hierarchy of marriage is broken by having the knight be obedient
to his wife., but when she put them into the story she made the moral be that women are
really in control, whether men think so or not.

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Bibliography

Greenblatt,Stephen."TheCanterburyTales."TheNortonAnthology
ofEnglishLiterature:TheMajorAuthors.9thed.Vol.A.NewYork:W.W.
Norton,2012.241342.Print.TheMiddleAges.