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      • Meet Joe Black >
        • Death Takes A Holiday 1934
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          • Psycho 1960
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          • Vertigo 1958
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        • it's a Wonderful Life
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        • The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
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          • Casablanca
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        • Top 25 Cult Films:
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      • Films To Consider: >
        • Breathless, by Jean-Luc Godard (1960)
        • Interstellar
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        • Mr. Holland's Opus >
          • Vimeo Short Films
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        • The Hunger Games/Quotes >
          • Suzanne Collins
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        • The Last Samurai
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        • 3 Days of the Condor 1975
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        • A Fist Full of Dollars
        • The Conformist >
          • The Conformist
        • Peter Sellers
        • Gladiator
        • The Last Emperor 1987/ Bertolucci
        • Phenomenon 1996
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        • The Butler
        • Contagion 2011
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      • Citizen Kane >
        • Citizen Kane #2
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      • The Wild Wild West! >
        • John Wayne / True Grit
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      • The Pride of the Yankees 1943
    • German Expressionism in Film >
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    • Scary Movies >
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      • Ghost of the Lagoon by Armstrong Sperry
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      • A River That Runs Through It >
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        • Goal (page two)
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      • We Are Marshall
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  • English 9 Curriculum Map 2018-19
    • Siddhartha >
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      • Video Games >
        • Video Gaming
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        • Game Programmer
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      • Story Telling /Moth
      • 10 Rules/Carmichael
    • The Cast of Amontillado
    • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian >
      • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Vocabulary Words
    • Direct and Indirect Characterization
    • Overly Sarcastic Productions The Classics
    • English 9 Unit 2 >
      • Food >
        • BBC Fast Food Baby
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        • GMOs
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        • Food
        • Food
      • Richard Wright/Blackboy >
        • Black Boy by Richard Wright
      • The Age of the Essay Paul Graham
    • English 9 Unit 3 >
      • Siddhartha >
        • Siddhartha
        • The Odyssey Vocabulary Words >
          • The Odyssey Movie
          • Create a Myth Assignment
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          • Freewill vs Determinism quotes
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          • Greek Gods
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          • The Greeks/Gods
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          • Odyssey
          • The Odyssey and the Hero's Journey
          • The Odyssey Presentations
      • Greek and Roman >
        • Untitled
        • What is theater?
        • Ancient Rome
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        • Rome/History/BBC >
          • Marcus Aurelius
          • The Stoics
          • Metal Detecting Roman/Greek
        • Oedipus The King >
          • Oedipus the King/Prezi
        • Homer, The Iliad
        • The Norse Gods
    • English 9 Unit 4 >
      • Graffiti >
        • Bansky
        • Bansky Art Sold fo
        • Street Art
        • The Top Street and Graffiti Artists to Watch in 2015
        • Graffiti Analysis
        • Anamorphic Graffiti Illusions by Odeith – Fubiz
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • English 9 Unit 5/ Poetry >
      • Various Poets
    • English 9 Other >
      • English 9 Essay
  • English 12 2017-18
    • Restorative Justice >
      • Juvenile Justice Essay Resources
      • Adam Foss
      • Racial Profiling >
        • Racial Poetry
        • Racial Profiling
      • Racism
      • Bullying #1
      • Race/Racism/Bullying
      • Jim Crow Museum
      • What Would You Do?
      • Bullying
      • Bullying
    • Eng 12/ Life after high school >
      • Personal Statement
      • Vision Board Assignment >
        • Vision Board Project
      • UC Writing Prompts/Journals
      • Hidden Intellectualism by Gerald Graff
      • Job Applications/Business Letter
      • Interview Questions and Answers >
        • Interview Q & A
        • Interview Q & A
      • Job Seeking/Resume/Q and A
      • FAFSA
      • Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
    • Unit 2 Week (3-5) "College Application Essay" >
      • Commencement Speeches #1
      • Commencement Speeches #2
      • Great Speeches
    • Zoot Suit >
      • Zoot Suit 2
    • 1984 Language, Gendetr, and Culture in George Orwell's 1984 >
      • 1984 Key facts, characters, themes, motifs, and symbolism
    • Brave New World 2016 >
      • Brave New World 2017 1
      • Gender, Language, and Identity
      • Brave New World Character Name meanings
      • BNW Vocabulary
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      • Brave New World 2016 2
      • The Perennial Philosophy/Huxly
      • Mystic Quotes
      • Papaji Advaita Vedanta
      • Nissargadatta
      • Vedanta Advaita Quotes
      • Kristnamurti Quotes
      • Sola BNW
      • Iron Maiden/ BNW
    • Into The Wild 2016-17
    • Into the Wild/ 11/15 >
      • Into the Wild/ Characters >
        • Into The Wild/Characters >
          • Into the Wild/Themes, Characters
      • Into the Wild/ Vocab
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      • Into The Wild/ Symbolism
      • Into To Wild/ Themes
      • Into The Wild/ Glossary
      • Into the Wild/ Quiz 1
      • Into the Wild/Jon Krakauer >
        • Is Ignorance Bliss?
        • Into the Wild/ Essential questions
        • Into the Wild/20/20 >
          • Into the Wild/Eckhart Tolle
        • Chris McCandless Articles/Outside Magazine
        • Into the Wild/Jon Krakaur
        • Into the Wild/2015/Nomads
        • Into the Wild
        • Into the Wild/The Big Two-hearted River/Nick Adams
        • Into the Wild/Who Am I
        • Into the Wild/Pierre Bezuhov/From War and Peace
        • Into The Wild/Various
        • Into the Wild/2015/Rush
        • Into the Wild/Tolstoy
        • Into the Wild/Springsteen
        • Into the Wild/Jack London
        • Into the Wild/Emerson
        • To Build a Fire/Jack Londen
        • Into the Wild/Louis L' Amour
        • Into the Wild/Thoreau
        • Into the Wild/Boris Pasternak
        • Into the Outdoors
        • Into the Wild/Alaska Denali
        • Into the Wild/Snowboarding
        • Into the Wild/2014/15/Supertramp
        • Into the Wild/Vocabulary
        • Into The Wild/Themes >
          • Into the Wild/Themes
        • Into The Wild/Glossary
        • Into the Wild/ Papaji
        • Into the Wild/Eckhart Tolle
        • Into the Wild
        • Into the Wild (Prezi)
        • Into the Wild/John Muir
        • Into the Wild/Quiz
        • Into the Wild /Movie Questions
        • Into the Wild/ Q&A
        • Into the Wild/ Climbing Videos
        • Into the Wild/Moose
    • Standards
    • English 12 Syllabus
    • English 12 2016-17 >
      • English 12a Final Essay
      • Letter To Myself >
        • Letter to Myself
        • Letter to Myself
    • English 12 Essay 2015
    • History of the English Church >
      • History of English
      • History of English
      • The History of English >
        • BBC Anglo-Saxons >
          • Anglo Saxons >
            • Anglo Saxon Lyre
            • Anglo-Saxon The History of English
            • Worst Jobs in History (Middle Ages)
            • The Worst Jobs in History--The Dark Age - Part 1-6
            • The Worst Jobs In History - 1x03 - Tudor
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Roman & Anglo-Saxon
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Medieval
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Tudor
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Stuart
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Georgian
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Victorian
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Urban
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Royal
            • The Worst Jobs In History-- Industrial
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Maritime
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Rural
            • The Worst Jobs In History--Christmas
            • The Medievil Mind >
              • The Medieval Belief
              • The Medievil Treasures BBC
              • The Medieval Power
              • Age of Conquest
              • The Crusades
              • The Black Plague
              • AEngla Land
              • Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons
              • The Staffordshire Hoard
            • Beowulf >
              • In Search of Beowulf
              • Beowulf PPt Presentations
              • British Literature Learning Videos >
                • Paganism vs Christianity
                • The Germanic Tribes
                • Beowulf & the Anglo-Saxons (1-8)
            • The Canterbury Tales
        • Language
    • English 12 Reading >
      • Epic of Gilgamesh Audio 2000 BC.
      • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Late 14th-century
      • The Wife of Bath's Tale 1405-1410 from canterbury Tales
      • The Passionate Shepard
      • Shakespeare 1564-1616 >
        • Shakespeare/ Tudor England
        • Novels/Plays >
          • Hamlet's, "To Be or Not to Be"
          • A Midsummer Night's Dream
          • Macbeth
          • Macbeth
          • Macbeth Act by Act
          • Shakespeare Poems
          • Globe Theater
          • Shakespeare Sonnets
          • Sonnet 1
          • Sonnet 1 Blog:
          • Sonnet 18
          • Sonnet 29
          • Sonnet 29 Blog:
          • Sonnet 75
          • Sonnet 75 Blog
          • Sonnet 130
      • Romeo & Juliet/ Shakespeare 4/15 >
        • Romeo & Juliet/ Shmoop Resources
        • Shakespeare Glossary
        • Shakespeare's Globe
        • Quotes about Shakespeare >
          • Shakespeare Quotes
          • Shakespeare Castles
        • Romeo & Juliet/ Characters
        • Romeo & Juliet/ Themes, Motifs, Symbolism
        • Elizabethan Clothing
        • Royal Shakespeare Company
        • Romeo and Juliet 1
        • Romeo and Juliet 2
        • Romeo and Juliet 3
        • Romeo and Juliet/ 60 Second
    • Six Centuries of Verse: Metaphysical & Devotional Poets >
      • Ben Johnson
      • John Donne
      • Andrew Marvell >
        • Jonathan Swift
        • A Modest Proposal
      • To His Coy Mistress
    • Romanticism 1790-1850 >
      • Romantic Spirit
      • Mysticism
      • William Blake
      • William Wordsworth
      • Samuel Taylor Coleridge
      • John Keats
      • Percy Bysshe Shelley
      • Mary Shelley
      • Lord Byron
      • James Joyce
  • My Favorite People
    • Favorite Artists >
      • Brian Dettmer Book Cutting
      • Bansky
      • Julian Schnabel
      • Phillip Guston
      • David Salle
      • Robert Motherwell
      • Picaso
      • Raushenburg
      • Francisco Clemente
      • Joseph Beuys
      • Cy Twombly
      • Jean Michel Basquiat
      • Keith Haring
      • Kenny Scharf
      • Kaws
      • Sun Xun
      • L' Arte
      • Richard Serra
    • AESOP
    • Adyashanti
    • Maya Angelou
    • Jane Austin
    • James Baldwin
    • Bansky Quotes
    • Coleman Barks
    • Joseph Beuys
    • Harold Bloom >
      • Harol Bloom/ How to read and why
    • Jorge Luis Borges
    • Robert Bly 1 >
      • Robert Bly 2
    • David Bowie
    • Ray Bradberry >
      • There Will Come Soft Rains
      • Usher II
      • The Veldt
      • Marionettes Inc.
      • Fehrenheit 451
      • Fahrenheit 451 Vocabulary
      • Fahrenheit 451 Quotes
    • Russell Brand >
      • Russell Brand
    • David Brooks
    • Barbara Brodsky
    • James Brown
    • Buddha >
      • Buddha
    • Warren Buffet
    • James Cameron
    • Albert Camus
    • Jack Canfield
    • George Carlin
    • Lewis Carrol
    • Caroline Casey
    • Paulo Coelho/Alchemist >
      • The Alchemist by
      • Paulo Coelho
    • John Coltrane >
      • John Coltrane
    • Steven Covey >
      • Steven Covey
      • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People/Steven Covey
    • Charlie Chaplin
    • Noam Chomsky
    • Deepak Chopra >
      • Ask Deepak
      • Deepak Chopra
    • Winston Churchill
    • Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
    • Ram Dass
    • Simone De Beauvoir
    • Anthony De Mello
    • Daniel Dennett
    • Shanti Devi
    • Junot Diaz
    • WALT DISNEY QUOTES
    • Fyodor Dostoyevsky >
      • Fyodor Dostoyevsky/ The Brothers Karamazov
    • Carol Dweck/Mindsets
    • Bob Dylan >
      • Bob Dylan
    • Thomas Edison Quiz
    • Albert Einstein >
      • Albert Einstein
    • T. S. Eliot
    • Ralph Waldo Emerson
    • Jane Eyre
    • Anneliese Marie Frank
    • William Faulkner
    • F Scott Fitsgerald >
      • The Roaring 20's
      • F Scott Fitzgerald 2014-15
      • The Great Gatsby
    • Benjamin Franklin
    • Robert Frost
    • Stephen Fry >
      • Stephen Fry
    • Neil Gaiman
    • Dan Gilbert
    • Malcom Gladwell
    • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    • Gurdjieff
    • Steven Hawking /black Holes
    • Hafez/Hafiz #1 >
      • Hafez/Hafiz Poems #2
      • Hafez/Hafiz #3
      • Hafez/Hafiz #4
      • Hafez #5 >
        • Hafiz Poems #7
      • Hafez Poems #6
      • Hafez Poems #8
    • Thich Nhat Hanh
    • Tyrone Hayes
    • Ernest Hemingway
    • Hermann Hesse >
      • Siddhartha Quotes
    • Christopher Hitchens
    • HOU HSIAO-HSIEN
    • Langston Hughes >
      • Langston Hughes/ Poems
      • Langston Hughes
    • Aldous Huxley >
      • Brave New World 4/15 >
        • Secret Societies >
          • The Knights Templar
          • The Freemasons
          • The Rosicrucians
          • The Illuminati
          • The Carbonari
        • BNW/ Chemtrails vs Contrails
        • BNW/ Unit Plan
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The Wife of Bath's

The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Geoffrey Chaucer The following entry presents criticism on Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale (circa 1386-1400). See also, Geoffrey Chaucer Criticism.

INTRODUCTION The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales contain, in the character Alisoun, the Wife of Bath, one of the most fully developed and discussed women in medieval literature. Bawdy, lusty, and strong willed, she refuses to allow men to control her existence and she takes measures to shape her own destiny. Although she is often viewed as an early precursor of feminist thought, some scholars argue that much of her Prologue can be viewed as anti-feminist rhetoric.

Biographical Information Chaucer was born in the 1340s into a family of London-based vintners. He spent most of his adult life as a civil servant, serving under three successive kings—Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV—and much of what is known of his life is derived from various household records. In 1357 he served as a page to Elizabeth, the Countess of Ulster and wife of Prince Lionel, the third son of Edward III. In 1359, while serving in Edward's army in France, Chaucer was captured during the unsuccessful siege of Rheims. The king contributed to his ransom, and Chaucer shortly thereafter entered the king's service. By 1366 he had married Philippa Payne de Roet, a French noblewoman who had also been in the employment of the Countess of Ulster. Around this time Chaucer appears to have established a connection with John of Gaunt, Edward III's fourth son, who may have become Chaucer's patron; the fortunes of the two traced parallel courses over the next three decades, rising and falling in tandem. Chaucer traveled to Spain in 1366, on the first of a series of diplomatic missions throughout Europe. After a 1373 visit to Italy he returned to England and was appointed a customs official for the Port of London; he was given additional customs responsibilities in 1382. By 1385 he was living in Kent, where he was appointed a justice of the peace. Although he became a member of Parliament in 1386, that year marked the beginning of a difficult period for Chaucer. He either resigned or was removed from his post as a customs official; additionally, he was not returned to Parliament. By 1387 his wife had died. Chaucer's fortunes rose again when John of Gaunt returned from the Continent in 1389, and the young King Richard II regained control of the government from the aristocracy, which had for a time been the dominant political force in England. Chaucer was appointed a clerk of the king's works but was removed from this office in 1391. Records suggest that by 1396 Chaucer had established a close relationship with John of Gaunt's son, the Earl of Derby, who as King Henry IV later confirmed Chaucer's grants from Richard and added an additional annuity in 1399. Chaucer then leased a house in the garden of Westminster Abbey where he lived for the rest of his life. He died on October 25, 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, an honor traditionally reserved for royalty. His tomb became the center of what is now known as Poet's Corner.

Plot and Major Characters The Canterbury Tales, the work generally regarded as Chaucer's masterpiece, was probably begun around 1386. The work is organized as a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Thomas à Beckett in Canterbury. Within this overall framework are ten parts, which appear in different order in different manuscripts. Many critics therefore believe that Chaucer never realized his final plan for the work. The work opens with the General Prologue, introducing the pilgrims with short, vivid sketches. Twenty-four tales follow, interspersed with short dramatic “links” presenting lively exchanges among the pilgrims. The tales are highly diverse in style, subject matter, and theme; they include courtly romance, allegory, sermon, fable, and sometimes a mixture of genres. The Wife of Bath's Tale is one of only three tales by women, and the only tale offering insight into the life and passions of a woman in the secular world. The Wife's Prologue is layered with double entendres and witty wordplay, providing comic relief for the pilgrims and the readers.

In The Wife of Bath's Tale Alisoun offers a story of a Knight who, while walking in a field, spies a young maiden and rapes her. The Knight is tried before King Arthur for his crime and is sentenced to death. Queen Guenevere pleads on the Knight's behalf and King Arthur allows her to mete out the Knight's punishment. The Queen gives the Knight twelve months and a day to discover what women truly want. He is required to report back to the Queen at he end of this time and provide an answer. He scours the land asking the question of each woman he meets. Women give him different opinions in return: money, clothing, sexual satisfaction, but none can offer the definitive answer. His allotted time draws to a close, and he has not found an answer to this question. As he realizes that he has failed, he comes upon an old and ugly crone and asks her the question of what women truly desire above all. She agrees to provide him with the answer in return for his pledge that he will grant her wish—a wish that will be told to him at a later time. He travels back to the castle with the crone, and delivers his answer to the Queen: “‘My lige lady, generally,’ quod he, / ‘Wommen desiren to have sovereynetee / As wel over his housbond as hir love, / And for to been in maistrie hym above. / This is youre mooste desir, thogh ye me kille. / Dooth as yow list; I am heer at youre wille’” (1037-42). The Queen allows the Knight to go free, but then the crone steps forward and claims the right to have the Knight fulfill his promise. The crone requires the Knight to marry her. The Knight is aghast but finally agrees. When they return to the crone's house for their wedding night, the crone discusses true gentility and charity with the Knight. He sees the error of his ways and reconciles himself to the marriage. The crone then offers him a choice: she can either remain old and ugly but an ever-faithful and obedient wife, or she can become young and beautiful but cannot promise that she will be obedient and faithful. The Knight allows the crone to decide, offering her sovereignty. Because the Knight has learned true humbleness and respect for his wife, she transforms into a beautiful young maiden and vows to be an obedient and faithful wife.

Major Themes In the The Wife of Bath's Prologue, two themes are addressed. The first centers on marriage roles and power. Alisoun discusses her five marriages and her tactics for gaining power and financial independence through the use of her body. Her first marriage was at the age of twelve to a wealthy older man. With this husband and the next two, she was very pragmatic about the relationships. She used her body to control her husbands and to gain financial boons from them. She admitted that she had a healthy sexual appetite and alluded to the fact that she may quench those appetites outside of wedlock. Her fourth husband was young and lusty, and even kept a mistress. During this fourth marriage, Alisoun began courting Jankyn, a younger man without financial independence. After her fourth husband died (there has recently been speculation as to why this young man died and whether it was by natural causes), Alisoun broke her earlier rules of pragmatic marriage and wedded Jankyn for love. Ironically, now that the Wife was older and searching for love, Jankyn's position was parallel to that of Alison's with her first husbands—young Jankyn delighted in aggravating Alisoun and appeared to be in a position of power over her.

The second major theme in the Prologue is dissatisfaction with current religious thought. The Wife is a Christian and is undergoing a pilgrimage, but she doesn't blindly trust the religious authorities' interpretation of the Scriptures. Scholars in medieval Europe were seeking to understand the Bible more fully, and one common thought that was introduced during this time was that since the Bible depicts Jesus attending only one wedding, perhaps this is God's message that people should only marry once. Alisoun defends her right to remarry after being widowed (four times) by recounting the Biblical story of the Samaritan woman at the well who was living out of wedlock with a man after being widowed four times. Jesus commanded her to marry this fifth man. Alisoun uses this parable and the examples of Solomon, Abraham, and Jacob, all of whom had multiple wives. Alisoun also believes in God's command to be fruitful and multiply. She disagrees with the Church's teaching that chastity is preferable to second marriage; she believes that by sharing her bounty, she is closer to the real teachings of the Bible. Her bawdy description of the God-given tools used in this endeavor are thinly veiled double entendres, and she is interrupted by the Pardoner before she discusses the particulars of her five marriages. Throughout these descriptions the religious theme is intertwined with the marriage theme and Alisoun's desire for autonomy. Although true autonomy for women in medieval Europe is an impossibility, she outlines her strategies for control of self and the situations around her.

In the Tale, the Wife of Bath softens her views of charity and love but continues the theme of autonomy and power. Alisoun reworks the traditional story of the “Loathly Lady” with a decidedly feminist spin, putting the hag in a position of control and demoting the Knight to a position of submissiveness. Throughout the Tale, the Knight's fate is decided by women, first by Guenevere, then by the crone. Alisoun suggests that a man's true happiness can be realized when he allows his spouse to have some level of autonomy. Although the end of the Tale realigns the positions of power to more traditional gender roles, it is by the woman's own choice finally to be an obedient wife; therefore the Tale provides a milestone for women's quest for self-definition. The rehabilitation of the Knight is surprising, given the Tale's beginning sentiment about the good nature of women in comparison to the base nature of men. Many commentators support the idea that in the Tale Alisoun is making a statement against prevailing beliefs that women are by nature base and sinful, yet men are capable of great nobility.

Critical Reception Much of the scholarly debate concerning The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale focuses on Alisoun's role in feminist discourse. Many essayists address the misogynist views presented in The Canterbury Tales and attempt to determine whether Chaucer's use of Alisoun is meant to overthrow these views or reinforce them. Discussion on this topic is divided between those, such as H. Marshall Leicester, Jr., who see Alisoun as an early feminist striving for autonomy in an oppressive patriarchal society, and those, including Susan Crane and Catherine S. Cox, who view her as destined to fail in her search for equality, partly because she is trying to gain acceptance by emulating men instead of embracing her femininity, but mainly because she is a fictional character, written by a man. Several critics have investigated the religious dimensions of the The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale. James W. Cook has analyzed Alisoun's positions in relation to the sacraments, particularly marriage. Alcuin Blamires has explored the possibility that Chaucer uses Alisoun to challenge false teachings and wrongdoing by the clergy, comparing her views to those of the Lollards, a heretical sect that held the Bible as the sole authority on God's word and questioned the moral right of the clergy. Among the numerous other approaches to The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale are David S. Reed's examination of Alisoun's comic aspects, D. W. Robertson, Jr.'s analysis of her concern with status and wealth, and Susan Signe Morrison's and Elaine Treharne's investigations into how Chaucer uses and manipulates language in these works.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 1-34 Summary
       The Wife claims that life experience, though no 'authority' (written text), qualifies her to speak about "wo that is in mariage" (3).

       She says that from the time she was twelve years old, she has had five husbands.

       Not too long ago, someone told the Wife that since Christ only went to a wedding once (in Cana), she should only be married once.

       Also, someone told her that Christ reproved a Samaritan at a well for having five husbands, saying that the man she was married to at that point was not her husband.

       The Wife wants to know why that fifth man wasn't the Samaritan's husband, and how many men, exactly, is it OK to marry, for she's never heard anyone give an exact number

       The Wife reminds her audience that God told us to wax and multiply, and she understands that text very well.

       God also said that her husband should leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, but did not mention multiple successive marriages; therefore, why do men condemn it?

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 35-82 Summary 
       Solomon had more than one wife; the Wife wishes it were permitted for her to have sex half as often as him.

       The Wife continues on to say that it was a great gift for Solomon to have so many wives. He must have really enjoyed himself on his wedding nights.

       The Wife blesses God that she has had five husbands.

       She says that she picked the best men, both in terms of their genitals and their wealth.

       Just as a lot of schooling makes for good clerks, and a lot of practice at their craft makes for good craftsmen, so, says the Wife, she is "of fyve husbondes scoleiyng" (50), implying that she is a really, really good wife.

       The Wife welcomes a sixth husband whenever he comes along, for she does not want to be chaste.

       When her current husband is dead, she plans to marry again. The apostle (probably Paul) allows her to remarry because he says that to be wedded is not sinful; it is better to be married than to burn (meaning, better to be married than to have sex out of wedlock, thereby condemning oneself to hell).

       Why should the Wife care if people condemn Lamech for having multiple wives? After all, Abraham and Jacob also had multiple wives, and they were considered holy men.

       Also, when did God ever forbid marriage expressly? And when did he ever command virginity?

       When Saint Paul spoke about virginity, he didn't command it, only recommended it and left it to each person's judgment.

       If God had commanded virginity, he would have condemned marriage.

       Also, if people didn't procreate, no virgins would be born, so there would be no virginity.

       Saint Paul certainly didn't dare to command something God wouldn't command.

       Virginity is a challenge ("The dart is set up of virginitee" [81]), says the Wife. Let's see who wins it.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 83-100 Summary
       These words (about virginity being desirable) are not meant for everyone, but only those to whom God gives the grace to be chaste.

       Saint Paul was a virgin, and wished that everyone could be virgins, but this was only a recommendation (implied: not a command) of virginity.

       He gave the Wife permission to be a Wife. Therefore it is no sin for her to marry again if her husband dies.

       Even though Saint Paul said it was better not to touch a woman, he only meant in bed or on a couch, because that's like putting together flame and tinder.

       Saint Paul thought virginity was more perfect than wedding in frailty (i.e., than getting married because you want to have sex).

       The Wife of Bath calls it frailty unless both woman and man are chaste for their entire lives. (This part is ambiguous. She is probably saying that, if someone has already been married once, they have already given in to frailty and so might as well continue to do so by marrying again.)

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 101-120 Summary 
       The Wife's not jealous that maidenhood is preferred to marriage. Let those be maidens (virgins) who wish to be "clean" in body and soul.

       She does not boast about being a wife.

       Among his household possessions, a lord has some vessels made of gold, and some made of wood. The ones made of wood are also serviceable. (The implication here is that the wives are serviceable, if not as preferable as the virgins.)

       God calls people of all different persuasions to himself, and all of them have their own, different gifts from God.

       Virginity and continence are indeed great perfections.

       But Christ, who is the source of perfection, did not command that everyone sell all they have and give it to the poor. He asked it only of those people who wanted to be perfect.

       Lords, says the Wife, addressing the pilgrims, I have no wish to be perfect.

       The Wife plans to spend her old age being married and having sex.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 121-140 Summary 
       Why were the genitals made, and those by such a perfect maker (God)?

       They certainly weren't made for no reason.

       Although some may try to explain the genitals away by saying they're meant for urinating, or for telling the difference between a male and a female, experience says otherwise.

       In fact, they are made for the purpose of pleasure and procreating (making babies).

       Why else do writers say that a man should yield the marriage-debt (sex) to his wife?

       How else would he make the payment without using his penis?

       Therefore, the genitals are made both for urinating and for procreating.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 141-168 Summary 
       Not everyone who's outfitted with genitals is obligated to use them for procreating. If that were the case, nobody would be chaste.

       Christ was a virgin, and so were many others.

       The Wife doesn't envy virginity; let those virgins be considered white bread, and let wives be considered barley bread. Christ was able to feed many people with barley bread.

       In the estate God has put her, the Wife plans to persevere. She will use her genitals as freely as God has sent them, paying her marriage debt to her husband just as often as he wants.

       The Wife wants a husband to have sex with. She has power over his body during his life, because Saint Paul told husbands to love their wives well. The Wife really likes that saying.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 169-193 Summary 
       The Pardoner interrupts the Wife. He calls her a "noble prechour in this cas" (171).

       The Pardoner says he was about to get married. Now he's having second thoughts.

       The Wife tells the Pardoner that if he waits a little, he shall drink "of another tonne, / Er that I go, shal savoure wors than ale" (176-177): he will hear something that will make him feel even more wary of marriage.

       Once the Wife has told the Pardoner about the woe of marriage, then he can choose whether or not he wishes to engage in it.

       The Wife tells the Pardoner he should be wary of approaching too near marriage.

       She says she can give more than ten examples to prove this.

       Quoting from Ptolemy, the Wife says that men who aren't corrected by others' examples are doomed to be examples for others.

       The Pardoner begs the Wife to say more about this, to teach young men of her methods.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 194-229 Summary 
       The Wife responds to the Pardoner's request by saying that she will gladly speak of what he asks, but asks the company not to be offended if she speaks as she likes. Her intent is only to play.

       The Wife says that, of her five husbands, three were good and two were bad.

       The three good ones were rich and old.

       They did not have an easy time having sex as often as the Wife wanted it.

       It makes the Wife laugh to think about how mercilessly she drove them in bed.

       The Wife didn't care about making those husbands happy, because they'd already given her their gold and treasure.

       Her husbands loved her so much that she did not value it.

       A wise woman strives very hard to win love she does not have, but since the Wife's husbands were already in her power, she had no need to please them.

       She made those husbands work very hard at night.

       Those husbands were so much in her power that they eagerly purchased fancy gifts for her at the fair. And she would chew them out so often that they were very happy when she spoke sweetly to them.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 230-240 Summary 
       The Wife asks the company, but particularly wise wives that can best understand her, to listen to her example of how one ought to speak to one's husband in order to get the upper hand in the relationship.

       The Wife claims that no man can lie as boldly as a woman can.

       If she knows what's good for her, says the Wife, a wise wife will convince her husband that the "cow is wood" – that the rumors of her unfaithfulness to him are untrue.

       The part that follows is the Wife's imaginative re-enactment of how she spoke to former husbands in order to gain the upper hand.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 241-262 Summary 
       The Wife gives her listeners a lesson on how to boss around a husband. Here's how she would speak to a husband in order to get the upper hand in the relationship:

       Why is my neighbor's wife so happy, while I sit at home without any decent clothes?

       Why do you spend so much time at my neighbor's house? Are you in love with her?

       Why are you whispering to our maid? Stop seducing people!

       If I have a friend I like to talk to, you wrongfully criticize me for visiting him.

       You come home drunk and criticize me without having any proof that I'm doing anything wrong.

       You tell me it's a misfortune to marry a poor woman, because she costs more than she's worth. Yet you also tell me it is torment to suffer the pride and bad mood of a rich wife.

       If a woman is pretty, you say, she can't remain chaste because every man wants to have sex with her.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 263-290 Summary 
       You say that men lust after women for our wealth, others for our figures, others for our beauty, others for our talent at singing or dancing, others for our good manners, others for our small arms and hands.

       According to you, then, all women are impossible to keep chaste, because they're like a castle wall that's under siege – they can't be protected for long.

       If a woman is ugly, you say that she lusts after every man she sees, like a dog who wants to jump on everyone, until she finds a man willing to have sex with her.

       When we go to bed, you say that it's very hard for you to have to embrace something that no other man wants to embrace.

       You say that no wise man needs to marry, nor any man who wants to go to heaven.

       May your neck be broken by thunder and lightning!

       You say that leaky roofs and smoke and the scolding of wives make men flee their own houses. What can be wrong with you, so to criticize your wife?

       You say that wives will hide their flaws until they're married, at which point we reveal them. That's the proverb of a shrew!

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 291-308 Summary 
       You say that oxen, donkeys, horses, and hounds can all be tried out before they're purchased; also basins, bowls, spoons, stools, and other household items. Wives, on the other hand, can't be tried out until they're married, at which point they reveal their flaws.

       You also say that I'm unhappy unless you constantly praise my beauty and gaze lovingly on my face, call me "fair dame" everywhere, plan a party for my birthday, give me nice clothes, and treat my nurse, maids, and father's family well. That's what you say, you old liar!

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 309-329 Summary 
       Just because our apprentice, Jankyn, has nice blond hair and escorts me around town, you suspect me of cheating on you with him. But I wouldn't sleep with him even if you died tomorrow!

       Why do you hide the keys of your strong-box (piggy-bank) from me? It is my property just as much as yours! Do you want to make me look like an idiot?

       I swear, you will not be master of both my body and my property. One, you'll have to give up.

       Why do you need to inquire after me and spy on me? I believe you'd like to lock me in your chest.

       Here's what you should say: "Wife, go where you want to, enjoy yourself. I won't believe any rumors about you, because I know you're a faithful wife."

       We wives don't love a man that tries to control where we go. We want to have our freedom.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 330-342 Summary 
      Blessed be Ptolemy, the wise astrologer who said that the wisest man is the one who doesn't care who rules the world.

       By this proverb, you should understand that you ought not to care how much sex other people are getting.

       For certainly, you're going to get enough sex from me at night.

       The man who won't allow another man to light his candle at his lantern is a cheapskate. His lantern won't be any dimmer for this charity.

       Therefore, since you're getting enough sex, you shouldn't care if other men also have sex with me.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 343-353 Summary 
       You also say that if we wives dress up in nice clothes, it jeopardizes our chastity.

       You back this up by repeating St. Paul's words about how women should dress themselves in habits of chastity and shame, and not in fancy hairstyles, jewelry, and rich clothes.

       I refuse to behave according to your rules and St. Paul's text!

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 354-362 Summary 
       You said that I was like a cat, because a cat would stay in the home of whoever damaged his fur.

       If the cat's fur was shiny and nice, however, the cat would not stay at home for even half a day; instead, she would go show off her fur, and caterwaul (shriek like a cat) and play.

       This is your way of saying that if I have nice clothes I will run around town to show them off.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 363-384 Summary 
       What's wrong with you, to spy on me like this? Though you enlisted Argus (a mythological monster with a hundred eyes) to be my keeper, you could never control me. I could easily trick even Argus.

       You also said that there are three things that trouble this earth, and nobody might endure the fourth.

       May Jesus shorten your life, for you say a hateful wife is one of these things. Aren't there any other things you can complain about in your parables besides a good wife?

       You compare a woman's love to hell, or a barren landscape without water. You compare it to a wildfire, for the more it burns, the more it desires to consume.

       You say that just as worms destroy a tree, so a wife destroys her husband, as anyone who is married well knows.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 385-400 Summary 
       (The Wife's imaginary rant at her husband ends here.)

       Lords, this is how I got the upper hand in my relationship with my husbands, telling them that they said all these things when they were drunk.

       It was all a lie, but I swore on my servant and my niece it was true.

       I caused them much pain, though they were innocent!

       Like a horse, I bit and whined.

       I knew how to complain, though I was the guilty party. Had I not, I would have been in big trouble.

       Whoever comes first to the mill is the first to have their meal ground; therefore, I made sure to complain first.

       My husbands were glad just to excuse themselves of things they were not guilty of.

       I would accuse them of having mistresses when they were so sick they could barely stand.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 401-436 Summary 
       Yet these accusations actually made my husband happy, because he believed that it was my love that produced such extreme jealousy.

       I told him that I only went out at night to spy on his mistresses.

       In this way I had great happiness.

       All this cleverness is given to women at birth.

       Deceit, weeping, and spinning are the tools God gave to women.

       Of one thing I boast: I always got the better of my husbands somehow, whether by deception, force, or continual complaining.

       Namely, my husbands had bad luck in bed: there I complained and refused to have sex with them.

       I would not stay in bed if I felt my husband try to embrace me, unless he had somehow paid me. At that point I would allow him to have sex with me.

       Therefore, I tell every man: win what you can, for everything is for sell. With empty hands, men lure no hawks.

       For wealth, I would endure my husband's lust and pretend to feel the same.

       Yet, in old men, I never really had delight. That's why I complained so much.

       Even if the pope came to dinner, I wouldn't stop criticizing my husband.

       I swear, I gave as good as I got. I can truly say I don't owe my husband any words that I haven't already said to him.

       I mad it so that my husbands would rather give in to me, than remain arguing.

       Though my husband might be roaring mad, in the end he'd lose the fight.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 437-456 Summary 
       (The Wife again begins to re-enact how she spoke to her husbands.)

       Then I would say, look at how meek our sheep Wilkyn is.

       Come close, let me kiss you!

       You should be all patient, meek, and be good-natured. You always talk about Job's patience; imitate him, since you do such a good job of preaching about him.

       Unless you do that, you will learn from experience that it is better to have peace with your wife.

       One of the two of us has to give in, and since a man is more reasonable than a woman, it should be you.

       What's wrong with you; why do you complain? Is it just because you want to have sex with me? Go ahead, have as much sex as you want!

       My, you're fond of sex!

       If I sold my body, I would get a lot of money. Instead, I keep it all for you.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 457-474 Summary 
       (The Wife ends her imaginary address to her husband.)

       That's how I used to speak to my husbands. Now I'll tell you about my fourth husband.

       My fourth husband kept a mistress.

       Then, I was young and passionate. I was stubborn, strong, and cheerful.

       I could dance well to the songs of a harp, and sing like a nightingale, when I'd had a lot to drink.

       Metellius killed his wife for drinking, but if I'd been his wife he would not have persuaded me to stop drinking.

       After I drink, I want to have sex. For, just as cold brings hail, so a mouth fond of drink belongs to a body fond of sex.

       Women who have been drinking have no self-control, which lechers know from experience.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 475-486 Summary 
       When I think about my youth and happiness, it really tickles me!

       Even today, it makes me happy to think that I had such good times in my youth.

       But alas, age, which poisons everything, has taken my beauty and spirit.

       Let it go, and the devil go with it! The flour is gone, but I will do as much business with the bran as I possibly can!

       Still, to be cheerful is my goal.

       Now I will tell you about my fourth husband.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 487-508 Summary 
       I was really mad that my husband enjoyed having sex with anyone else. But I got back at him for that; I made him a cross of the same wood.

       I didn't get back at him by actually cheating on him. Instead, I behaved so familiarly with people that I gave him a taste of his own medicine.

       I was his purgatory on earth, enveloping him in anger and jealousy. For which reason, I hope his soul's gone to glory.

       He complained often about how I tormented him. No one but he, me, and God know how much I made him suffer.

       He died when I came back from Jerusalem.

       He's buried under the cross, but his tomb is not fancy; it would have been a waste of good money to bury him expensively.

       May he fare well, and may God rest his soul. He's now in his coffin in the grave.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 509-530 Summary 
       Now I will tell you about my fifth husband, who I hope doesn't go to hell.

       He was the worst-behaved toward me, which I feel and always will, in the injuries to my body.

       In our bed, however, he was fresh and spirited. He knew how to make me feel so good during sex that, even though he beat me, he could win my love again.

       I believe I loved him best because he withheld his love from me.

       We women are strange in this way: whatever we can't get easily, we ache for all day long. Forbid us something, and we desire it. Give us something easily, however, and we run away from it.

       Great demand for something on the market makes it expensive; what's common earns little profit. Every wise woman knows this.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 531-548 Summary 
       My fifth husband, who I married for love and not money, was an Oxford clerk.

       He had left school and gone back home to board with a friend of mine named Alisoun.

       Alisoun knew my heart's secrets better than the parish priest; I told her everything. If my husband peed on a wall or did something illegal, I would tell this to Alisoun, another wife, and my niece, whom I loved.

       I told my husband's secrets to them so often that he would get red in the face about it for shame. He blamed himself for telling me so important a secret.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 549-592 Summary
        One time, during Lent, I went to my friend's house. (Even during Lent I loved to have fun and walk about from house to house to hear all the news.)

       The Oxford clerk Jankyn, Alisoun, and I went out into the fields.

       (My husband was in London all that Lent, so that I was free to play, to see and be seen. How did I know where my next good fortune was to come from?)

       (Therefore, during that time, I made visits to vigils, processions, sermons, pilgrimages, weddings, and miracle plays.)

       (To these events, I wore my scarlet skirt. It was so well-worn that worms and moths never touched it.)

       Now I will tell what happened to me when I went out into the fields with Alisoun and Jankyn.

       We walked in the fields. We had a lot of fun, this clerk and I.

       So I spoke to him, and told him that if I were ever widowed, he should marry me.

       (For I never stopped to provide for my future with prospective marriages. I only have disdain for the mouse that has only one hole to run to.)

       I made this clerk believe he had enchanted me, a trick my mother taught me.

       I told him I'd dreamed of him all night, that he killed me as I lay and my bed was full of blood. I told him that I'd been taught blood is a sign gold to come.

       This was a lie; I hadn't dreamed any such thing. But I was following my mother's teaching.

       Now what was I saying? Ah, I remember.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 593-632 Summary 
       When my fourth husband died, I cried and appeared to be mourning, as wives must after the custom. I covered my face with a handkerchief.

       Actually, though, since I was provided with a future husband, I didn't cry too much.

       My fourth husband was taken to the church the next day, with the neighbors mourning him, including Jankyn the clerk.

       When I saw Jankyn walking behind the coffin, I thought that he had a pair of legs and feet so attractive that I gave my heart to him.

       He was twenty years old, and I was forty.

       I have always had a colt's tooth (a lustful appetite, particularly for younger men).

       I was gap-toothed, which became me well. I had the symbol of Saint Venus on my face.

       I was lusty, rich, young, and becoming.

       Also, and so my husbands said, I had the best vagina you could find.

       Certainly, I am Venus-like in feeling, with a Mars-like heart. Venus gave me my lust and lecherousness, and Mars my sturdy hardiness. My ascending star was Taurus, with Mars in its house.

       It's just too bad that love is considered a sin!

       I always followed my inclinations, because of the sign under which I was born. This made me unable to withhold my sexual favors from a good fellow.

       I have the sign of Mars on my face, and also in another private place.

       I never had sex because of well-considered motives, but always followed my appetite.

       Were the man short, tall, black, or white, I didn't care. As long as he liked me, it didn't matter how poor a man was or to what social class he belonged.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 633-652 Summary  
      What more is there to say? By the end of the month, the clerk Jankyn married me.

       I gave him all the property I had inherited, although I afterward repented of that.

       Jankyn would never let me have my way. One time, he struck me so hard on my ear because I ripped a leaf out of his book, that I became deaf in that ear.

       I was as stubborn as a lioness, and quite the talker.

       I would walk from house to house socializing, as I always did before.

       Because of this, Jankyn often preached to me from old Roman stories, telling me, for example, how a man named Simplicius Gallus left his wife just because he saw her looking out the door with her head uncovered.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 653-716 Summary 
       He also told me about another Roman who left his wife because she went to a summer game without his permission.

       Jankyn would go to his Bible to find the proverb from Ecclesiastes that says a man shouldn't allow his wife to go out.

       Then Jankyn would say this: whoever builds his house of willows, or spurs his horse to run fast over unstable ground, or allows his wife to go off on pilgrimage alone, is worthy to be hanged.

       All of this was for nothing, though; I thought his proverbs worthless, and I refused to be corrected by him.

       I hate anyone that reminds me of my flaws. Doesn't everyone?

       My refusal to yield to him made Jankyn angry with me.

       Now I'll tell you why I tore a leaf out of Jankyn's book, causing him to hit me.

       He had a book he loved to read from night and day, which he called Valerie and Theofraste. He laughed uproariously at this book.

       Also, there was a clerk in Rome named Saint Jerome, who wrote a book called Against Jovinian. In this book were collected in one volume Tertulian, Crisippus, Trotula, Heloise, the Parables of Solomon, Ovid's Art, and many other books.

       Jankyn had the habit of reading from this Book of Wicked Wives every night after his work was done. He knew of more legends and lives of wicked lives than there are of good wives in the Bible.

       It's impossible that any clerk will speak well of wives, or of any other kind of woman, unless they're telling saints' lives.

       Who painted the lion? (Here the Wife is alluding to a fable in which a lion and a man look together at a painting in which a man is killing the lion. The lion makes the point that, if a lion had painted it, the picture would be very different.)

       If women had written stories, as clerks have been able to, they would have written of more wickedness of men than Baptism could ever wash away.

       The children of Mercury and Venus are at odds. Mercury loves wisdom and science, whereas Venus loves riot and enjoyment.

       Because of their different dispositions, one falls in the other's rising. Therefore, Mercury falls when Venus rises. That's why clerks don't praise women.

       When the clerk is old, and can no longer have sex, he sits down to write in his old age that women cannot be faithful in marriage.

The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Lines 717-793 Summary 
       But now, back to my story about why I was beaten because of a book.

       One night, Jankyn was reading from his book as he sat by the fire.

       First he read about Eve, who caused the fall of man and the death of Jesus, who redeemed us with his blood. Here you can see how a woman was the cause of mankind's loss.

       Then he read about how Sampson lost his hair when his woman cut it off while he was sleeping. Through this treason, Sampson lost both his eyes.

       Then Jankyn read about Hercules, and how Dianyre caused him to set himself on fire.

       He certainly didn't leave out the suffering of Socrates, whose wife Xantippa peed on his head, at which Socrates sat still and said only, before thunder comes rain.

       He read about Phasipha, Queen of Crete. Jankyn like this tale because of her shrewishness. I'll speak no more of this, for it is disgusting, her horrible lust and appetites.

       He read with devotion how Clytemnestra caused her husband's death.

       He told me how Amphiorax of Thebes lost his life because of his wife Eriphilem, who, for an ounce of gold, told the Greeks where her husband had hidden himself.

       He told me about Lyvia and Lucy who killed their husbands, one for love, the other for hate.

       Lyvia poisoned her husband one evening.

       Lucy loved her husband so much and so lecherously that she killed him by giving him a potion meant to make him think only of her. So husbands always come to grief.

       He told me how Latumyus complained to his friend Arrius about a tree in his garden upon which three of his wives had hanged themselves. Arrius's response was to ask for a branch of this tree, which he wished to plant in his own garden.

       He also read of more recent wives.

       Some had slain their husbands in their beds and had sex with another man while the corpse lay on the floor.

       Some drove nails into their husbands' brains while they slept.

       Some gave their husbands' poison in their drink.

       Jankyn spoke more harm than it's possible to think. He knew of more such proverbs than the number of grass and herbs that grow in this world.

       He said it was better to make one's home with a lion or dragon than with a woman who liked to complain.

       He said it was better to live in the roof than with an angry wife down in the house. These wives were so wicked and contrary that they always hated what their husbands loved.

       He said that women cast their shame away with their clothes.

       He said that a pretty woman, unless she was also chaste, was like a gold ring in a sow's nose.

       Who would believe the sadness and pain he caused in my heart by this?

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