Chaucer's Portrayal Of The Wife Of Bath

When writing, authors often know how they want to portray their characters, like if they want the person to stand for a greater meaning or to exist simply for ridicule. But some authors fall short of this mark and create wishy-washy figures that neither prove nor disprove an idea. This is the case with Chaucer and his portrayal of the Wife of Bath. The writer neither ridicules the woman for her multiple marriages nor does he use her to ridicule the gender norms of the time.