Chaucer: life, works, and literary significance

Wife of Bath

It may be strange to suggest that the Wife of Bath is a sympathetic figure, especially when William Blake identifies her as a "scourge" and a "blight" (Blake 32). Nonetheless, she is certainly Chaucer's representation of a woman who has not yet met a man who can rule her (White). Hardly the picture of meekness and humility that the Lady Prioress represents, the Wife of Bath is rather long-winded and proud of her ability to dominate the opposite sex. Her "long" preamble, in fact, elicits a rebuff from the Friar, and before the Wife even begins her tale she has already demonstrated her combative nature: not one to be told what to do she is out to prove that she is not a weak, feminine creature that will passively submit to any man that comes along. Moreover, the story she tells is one of a knight's learning to allow woman sovereignty over him. Yet, despite all appearances, this tale may be understood as a reaction to the manly Knight in the company of the pilgrims. There is something in the Wife of Bath that begs to be challenged. This paper will show how it may thus be argued that the Wife of Bath is neither a feminist nor a gargoyle, but a strong-willed woman looking for an even stronger-willed man to whom she might finally submit.

On the surface, the Wife of Bath's tale is told to show how what all women really want is sovereignty over men. One could argue, therefore, that the Wife of Bath is more than a mere prototypical feminist, a "liberated woman" who wants "equality." The Wife of Bath says in her tale that what women want is not simply "equality," but rather sovereignty. When the knight in her tale allows his new wife to choose whether she shall be honest and ugly or beautiful and unfaithful, he passes the "test," and his new wife chooses to be both beautiful and true as a reward for his giving her sovereignty. but, this wielding of sovereignty, of course, is merely a fantasy, an illusion -- as the Wife herself has shown in the long "preamble": her husband Jankin allowed her to rule over him, and in doing so, they "never had debate" (Chaucer 221), but the details of this new arrangement are not provided. All that is known of the Wife's newly won sovereignty is that it did not last: the husband died (cause unknown) and the Wife now seeks a new man.

Thus, the Wife of Bath is not what one might call a proponent of feminism. She is rather a woman who refuses to be chided for her sins or brought into line by a man, who has faults just as she does. Her prologue is a confession of sorts: rather than using her opportunity to tell a story, she chooses instead to tell about herself and to justify her own actions and experiences to the others -- especially the men, and perhaps in particularly the knight, who stands out among the pilgrims as the manliest of them all. She argues in her prologue that women are the ones who really deserve authority, who have really been given sovereignty. She cites St. Paul in Scripture, but glosses over the meaning of the verses, bending them to suit her own interpretation. Her prologue is like a bold challenge to the knight in her company. She anticipates Shakespeare's Katerina in the Taming of the Shrew. Just as Katerina challenges Petruchio, so too does the Wife of Bath appear to be challenging the only true man she has likely ever met: one who is in command of himself and thus able to command others. She is like the ermine in Leonardo's painting the Lady with the Ermine (1490). The ermine is a nasty, vicious animal that cannot be picked up and held -- and yet the lady in the portrait holds it with perfect composure. In other words, she has learned to control her passions. The Wife of Bath has not done so: she promotes sensuality and lust and refuses to be harnessed. Only when the man finally submits to her will does she assume that she is happy. But a man in submission to a woman loses something -- as her prologue shows: Jankin loses his life.