The Wife Of Bath's Marriage Essay

1.) upon what conditions does the wife accept marriage? The Wife of Bath has a very strict criteria when it comes to marriage. She has been married five times starting at the age of 12. Her first marriage most likely was an arranged one where she had no control over the situation which might have helped her in creating her philosophy on the subject/affair. The wife of bath marries on her terms which was the complete opposite of what was accepted and condoned in medieval times. When the Wife of Bath does marry she makes sure that the “agreement” will benefit her and that she is able to somehow control her husband and that he is well endowed and okay for a good romp in the bed. Alisoun views marriage as a type of ‘job which she enjoys especially because of sex which she enjoys. She is portrayed and written as more of a promiscuous woman that will only be laid to bed when she is married.

2.) Does Chaucer the poet's attitude manifest in the WOB prologue? The point of
the wife of bath’s prologue and tale is to make Geoffery Chaucer’s point known. Each tale is told for a reason. Chaucer is against a lot of the church’s teachings and ideals especially with regards to courtly love, sex, marriage. The Wife of Bath despite being a metaphor and a jab at the church’s portrayal of women of being lustful and deceitful also demonstrates chaucer's opinion on these subjects. The character of Alisoun and her explanations of her philosophy in her prologue combat and make the argument that sex as not just being for procreation but for pleasure as well. Alisoun has been married five times. The idea of marriage being sacred and that an individual should only be married once is combated with the Wife of Bath’s multiple marriages. You may see chaucer's point breaking through when the wife of Bath defends her view on sex stating that it is no where in the bible that one must remain a virgin. The arguments presented were well thought out and detailed and were in line with what Chaucer the Poet believed.

3.) What might the fairies and elves symbolize at the start of the WOB tale? The wife of Bath makes it very clear that in the beginning of her tale that the story is set in the time of king arthur with fairies and elves to give the listener or in this case the reader “stock characters.” Thus allowing for less character development as the tale is quite short in contrast to the Wife of Bath’s prologue.
The character of the Knight is different than that of what is usual in a fairytale. A Knight is usually portrayed as someone who is virtuous and heroic while in this tale the knight commits a serious crime and must pay the consequences. When the Knight first sets out to find out what women most desire he sees twenty four young maidens dancing and as he soon approaches they disappear leaving only an old woman. This sets the magical element into place and also allows for a great contrast between the hags ugliness and the beauty of the dancing maidens to greater further the point of the element of magic, the time period, and to demonstrate the appearance of the old
witch.

4.) Why is it important for the knight to find out what women want? In the context of the story it is important for the Knight to find out what women want in order to survive and fulfil the punishment that was laid against him for his crime. In terms of the wife of bath’s importance, the Knight furthers Alison's point and philosophy on women and marriage in general. The prologue of the story is twice as long as the actual tale, so in a sense there are two stories being told. One about the Wife of Bath and her encounters with marriage and one of the Knight. At the end of the story the Knight discovers that what women most want is to be charge of their husband. This answer reiterates what the Wife of Bath has been saying all along. In terms of the author, Geoffrey Chaucer used the wife of bath to demonstrate how unjustly woman were treated or how women were viewed. In the prologue of the tale Alisoun speaks of her fifth husband who read books on the wickedness of wives. This is Chaucer's hyperbole of the medieval treatment and view of woman. Chaucer uses exaggeration and satire in the character of the Wife of Bath, Knight, and the overall tale to deviate from the conventions of the time period.