(698-703)
In her speech, she expresses that if women were telling the narratives, they would criticize men in a similar manner. Her point illustrates the hypocrisy and misogyny in literature, demonstrating the unfair and incomplete nature of the portrayal of women. Through his inclusion of the Wife, Chaucer also avoids the issue she addresses - because of the epistolary nature of the work, he gives the Wife the opportunity to paint herself. The other members of the party allow the Wife to tell her story, and by doing so, give her the opportunity to define herself however she chooses - an opportunity Lanval’s lover certainly never had. Another way in which the Wife challenges the expectations set up by the feminine dichotomy is present in her opinions on “mastery” (The Wife of Bath’s Prologue 815). Though she loves her current husband more than any other, the Wife has remarried many times. In her prologue she reasons that this fact reflects little on her personal morality, citing the Bible: “‘Look, here's the wise king, lordly Solomon:/I do believe his wives were more than one’” (35-36). Furthermore, she prides herself on challenging the power balance between man and wife. Regarding her own relationship, she claims that her husband allows her autonomy,