The Wife of Bath
Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale and Prologue
In Robinson's OUP edition of the tales, the Wife's is the sixth tale (of twenty-four, including two by Chaucer), while Coghill in his modern version places it fourteenth. In both, her tale (from what is known to scholars as Fragment III, containing Group D of the tales) precedes the Friar's and the Summoner's. In Robinson she follows the Cook, while in Coghill she follows the Pardoner. In both cases, her tale is the first of a group of seven (Wife, Friar, Summoner, Clerk, Merchant, Squire, Franklin) known as the "Marriage Group", as all of them deal with the subject of authority (where it lies and how it is exercised) in married life.
The Wife is unusual in that her prologue is longer than her tale and is far and away the longest prologue Chaucer gives to any storyteller (only the Pardoner comes remotely near her for length). For most tales the prologue is usually an instructive introduction to the tale; here the tale is more of a sequel to the prologue, which is of more interest to the Wife's hearers and us, the modern readers. Like the Pardoner, the Wife tells us much about herself, but her account is almost a full autobiography; it appears, again like the Pardoner's prologue, as a mixture of confession and attempted self-justification.
The Wife speaks directly from her experience of marriage, while her tale is presented as a kind of model illustration of her theories. She has married, while young, three wealthy older husbands; her fourth husband, closer in age to herself, resisted all her attempts to dominate him. But her most bitter struggle has been with her fifth husband, though ultimately, she got the better of him. She has been widowed five times but is eager to find a new husband. Having inherited the wealth of her various husbands, she can now be more choosy, in selecting a new partner. Her account of her own life rings true at every point. In a way it is fitting that her tale should be a fabulous story set in the golden age of King Arthur.
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry
/wifebath.htm>.
The Wife is unusual in that her prologue is longer than her tale and is far and away the longest prologue Chaucer gives to any storyteller (only the Pardoner comes remotely near her for length). For most tales the prologue is usually an instructive introduction to the tale; here the tale is more of a sequel to the prologue, which is of more interest to the Wife's hearers and us, the modern readers. Like the Pardoner, the Wife tells us much about herself, but her account is almost a full autobiography; it appears, again like the Pardoner's prologue, as a mixture of confession and attempted self-justification.
The Wife speaks directly from her experience of marriage, while her tale is presented as a kind of model illustration of her theories. She has married, while young, three wealthy older husbands; her fourth husband, closer in age to herself, resisted all her attempts to dominate him. But her most bitter struggle has been with her fifth husband, though ultimately, she got the better of him. She has been widowed five times but is eager to find a new husband. Having inherited the wealth of her various husbands, she can now be more choosy, in selecting a new partner. Her account of her own life rings true at every point. In a way it is fitting that her tale should be a fabulous story set in the golden age of King Arthur.
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry
/wifebath.htm>.
The Portrait from the General Prologue
The Portrait of the Wife (from the General Prologue) This vivid sketch is one of the most striking in the General Prologue. We learn of the Wife's physical appearance, her dress, her way of life and her character, while Chaucer introduces hints he intends to amplify later in the narrative. Although editions of the Wife's prologue and tale will usually contain the portrait from the General Prologue, in the work as Chaucer intended it to be in its finished state, the portrait would be separated from the Wife's speaking by at least (as in Robinson's edition) five complete tales, with prologues and linking narratives. Thus details are mentioned in the portrait but left unexplained until much later. The most important such detail is the Wife's deafness (explained in line 668 of her prologue). Her "gat-tothed" appearance, then as now, is seen as an indication of sexual energy according to medieval beliefs in physiognomy.
The Wife is not beautiful, but forceful and vivacious. Her bright clothes and elaborate head-dress ("coverchiefs") are ostentatious rather than elegant: her hat is as broad as a "bokeler" (a buckler or small shield). Her clothes are of good quality "fyn scarlet reed" and her shoes are "moiste and newe": the effect is perhaps to advertise herself and her wealth, rather than attempt uncharacteristic finesse.
Of her life we are told that (apart from "oother compaignye in youthe") she has had five husbands, a revelation of which we certainly wish to know more. This means, of course, that she has been five times widowed (no divorce for women in 14th century England). This is rather surprising, but seems less so when (in her prologue) we learn that three of the husbands were old men. Her habit of going on pilgrimages suggests a devout woman, but her real reasons for such travel are a love of adventure, and the social opportunities these trips bring. As in the present case, most pilgrims are men (and the few other women present are nuns). One of them might be the next husband for whom she is looking out! The last part of the description tells us of her social skills, especially her knowledge of "remedies of love", an "art" which she well understands.
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.
The Wife is not beautiful, but forceful and vivacious. Her bright clothes and elaborate head-dress ("coverchiefs") are ostentatious rather than elegant: her hat is as broad as a "bokeler" (a buckler or small shield). Her clothes are of good quality "fyn scarlet reed" and her shoes are "moiste and newe": the effect is perhaps to advertise herself and her wealth, rather than attempt uncharacteristic finesse.
Of her life we are told that (apart from "oother compaignye in youthe") she has had five husbands, a revelation of which we certainly wish to know more. This means, of course, that she has been five times widowed (no divorce for women in 14th century England). This is rather surprising, but seems less so when (in her prologue) we learn that three of the husbands were old men. Her habit of going on pilgrimages suggests a devout woman, but her real reasons for such travel are a love of adventure, and the social opportunities these trips bring. As in the present case, most pilgrims are men (and the few other women present are nuns). One of them might be the next husband for whom she is looking out! The last part of the description tells us of her social skills, especially her knowledge of "remedies of love", an "art" which she well understands.
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.
The Wife of Bath's Prologue
Argument of the Prologue:
The Wife's stated purpose is to speak generally of strife in marriage. Her real preoccupation is with "maistrie". The struggle for this has been the cause of her woe, especially in her fourth and fifth marriages. She depicts all five in terms of combat. The attempt to gain mastery may succeed or fail, but division of sovereignty is not countenanced.
The first three marriages are uneven matches: aged, wealthy but feeble men (thought of collectively as "he") are worn out by the sharp-tongued, lustful and vivacious woman whose fortune is not so much her face as her energy and sexual prowess. Her fourth husband is a more even match for the now not-so-young Wife: her husband is about her age, has a mistress and seems not to suffer from the Wife's flirtations.
The (unexplained) death of the fourth husband leads to a match that reverses the earlier pattern, as the Wife, now well heeled, secures a man half her age to share the marital bed. Jankin wields weapons of learning in his misogynist outbursts. The Wife wins sovereignty here, it seems, because she has more stamina: Jankin, conceding "maistrie" recognises her limitless resolution and shows a hitherto concealed desire for a quiet life. The Wife claims that Jankin's yielding led her to treat him well; having "bought" a young husband, her vanity requires that he know his place, and her spoiling of him is a demonstration of her superior status. But she did not, in the earlier marriages, extend the same kindness to the husbands who had "bought" her.
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.
The Wife's stated purpose is to speak generally of strife in marriage. Her real preoccupation is with "maistrie". The struggle for this has been the cause of her woe, especially in her fourth and fifth marriages. She depicts all five in terms of combat. The attempt to gain mastery may succeed or fail, but division of sovereignty is not countenanced.
The first three marriages are uneven matches: aged, wealthy but feeble men (thought of collectively as "he") are worn out by the sharp-tongued, lustful and vivacious woman whose fortune is not so much her face as her energy and sexual prowess. Her fourth husband is a more even match for the now not-so-young Wife: her husband is about her age, has a mistress and seems not to suffer from the Wife's flirtations.
The (unexplained) death of the fourth husband leads to a match that reverses the earlier pattern, as the Wife, now well heeled, secures a man half her age to share the marital bed. Jankin wields weapons of learning in his misogynist outbursts. The Wife wins sovereignty here, it seems, because she has more stamina: Jankin, conceding "maistrie" recognises her limitless resolution and shows a hitherto concealed desire for a quiet life. The Wife claims that Jankin's yielding led her to treat him well; having "bought" a young husband, her vanity requires that he know his place, and her spoiling of him is a demonstration of her superior status. But she did not, in the earlier marriages, extend the same kindness to the husbands who had "bought" her.
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.
The Wife of Bath's Tale
857-918: The Wife's story is set in the time of King Arthur, when fairies abounded in England; she ironically praises holy men, such as the friar, for driving them out. The "hero" of the story is a young knight, condemned to death for rape, but reprieved, at the insistence of Arthur's queen. His life will be spared if he can find out, within a year, what thing women most desire. The knight is troubled, but has no choice.
919-982: The Wife digresses to describe some of the things women are thought most to like. One of these suggestions is that women wish to be thought capable of discretion. This is clearly not the answer to the knight's question, but the Wife digresses further to quote a tale from Ovid's Metamorphoses, about Midas's ears!
982-1072: The Wife returns to her tale, telling how the knight has failed to find the answer he seeks, when, on the day he must turn for home, he sees a group of (24) dancers by a forest. They are fairies, and when he approaches, al of them disappear, leaving an ugly old woman sitting on the green. He tells her of his troubles, and she offers to give him the answer to the queen's question, but, in return he must grant her whatever she asks for, which he promises to do. She whispers the answer in his ear (a naive touch - there is no-one around to hear what she says, but the device explains the Wife's keeping the answer from her audience). On the chosen day, the knight gives his answer before the queen and the ladies of the court: what women most desire is to have sovereignty over their husbands. All agree that the knight has answered aright and deserves to keep his life, when the old woman reminds the knight of his promise: she now demands that he marry her. He is aghast but has to accede to her request.
1073-1264 (end): The knight marries the old woman "prively" (quietly, a "private ceremony" as we say today) but when his wife comes to bed, she rebukes him for his lack of enthusiasm. He replies by condemning her as ugly, old and of low birth. She retorts that she could amend all of these things within three days, but first she takes him to task for his attitude. She explains at length, (improbably) quoting Dante, Valerius, Seneca, Boethius, Juvenal and the scriptures, that virtue is not a matter of wealth but of character; she speaks more briefly of her age (which should earn his respect) and ugliness (which should save him from cuckoldry). She gives her husband a choice: she can remain old and ugly, but be an otherwise model wife, or she can be young and beautiful, but he must take his chances when suitors call. The knight has evidently learned his lesson because he wisely allows her to choose. She tells him that, since he has given her the sovereignty, she will be both loyal and by the morning as beautiful as any queen or empress in the world. She bids him "cast up the curtin" to see that she has already changed. The knight is ecstatic and the couple live happily ever after. The Wife of Bath ends with a double prayer: first that God will send women meek, young and virile husbands, and that cantankerous husbands will catch the plague (no empty threat at the time when she speaks).
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.
919-982: The Wife digresses to describe some of the things women are thought most to like. One of these suggestions is that women wish to be thought capable of discretion. This is clearly not the answer to the knight's question, but the Wife digresses further to quote a tale from Ovid's Metamorphoses, about Midas's ears!
982-1072: The Wife returns to her tale, telling how the knight has failed to find the answer he seeks, when, on the day he must turn for home, he sees a group of (24) dancers by a forest. They are fairies, and when he approaches, al of them disappear, leaving an ugly old woman sitting on the green. He tells her of his troubles, and she offers to give him the answer to the queen's question, but, in return he must grant her whatever she asks for, which he promises to do. She whispers the answer in his ear (a naive touch - there is no-one around to hear what she says, but the device explains the Wife's keeping the answer from her audience). On the chosen day, the knight gives his answer before the queen and the ladies of the court: what women most desire is to have sovereignty over their husbands. All agree that the knight has answered aright and deserves to keep his life, when the old woman reminds the knight of his promise: she now demands that he marry her. He is aghast but has to accede to her request.
1073-1264 (end): The knight marries the old woman "prively" (quietly, a "private ceremony" as we say today) but when his wife comes to bed, she rebukes him for his lack of enthusiasm. He replies by condemning her as ugly, old and of low birth. She retorts that she could amend all of these things within three days, but first she takes him to task for his attitude. She explains at length, (improbably) quoting Dante, Valerius, Seneca, Boethius, Juvenal and the scriptures, that virtue is not a matter of wealth but of character; she speaks more briefly of her age (which should earn his respect) and ugliness (which should save him from cuckoldry). She gives her husband a choice: she can remain old and ugly, but be an otherwise model wife, or she can be young and beautiful, but he must take his chances when suitors call. The knight has evidently learned his lesson because he wisely allows her to choose. She tells him that, since he has given her the sovereignty, she will be both loyal and by the morning as beautiful as any queen or empress in the world. She bids him "cast up the curtin" to see that she has already changed. The knight is ecstatic and the couple live happily ever after. The Wife of Bath ends with a double prayer: first that God will send women meek, young and virile husbands, and that cantankerous husbands will catch the plague (no empty threat at the time when she speaks).
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.
Argument of the Tale
The Prologue relies on evidence from experience - but this is particular, not universal. Setting the Tale in the mythical golden age of King Arthur, the Wife gives it a more universal application. The pagan setting expresses truths not taught by religion, but revealed in the workings of human nature. The Arthurian world is not what is but what was or ought to be - a better world than the everyday one. That women might renew youth in old age seems impossible, but giving women sovereignty plainly can be achieved - the ideal can in part be realised. If this does not happen, husbands who are "angry nigardes of dispence" are to blame.
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.
The Propriety of Appropriateness of the Tale
(Scholars have suggested that Chaucer originally intended what is now the Shipman's Tale to have been spoken by the Wife.) The tale of the knight and the loathly lady is appropriate on several grounds, less so on others. It suits the Wife because it makes the case for women's sovereignty. It is also suited to her in its telling: while some details (such as the characters and setting) are very sketchy, other details recall the Prologue, but are out of place in a romantic fantasy: these include the story of Midas's ears (here the Wife mixes mythologies) and the digression on "gentillesse" in which the Wife quotes Dante (not born in the supposed time of King Arthur; the Wife of Bath herself might be expected to quote this authority, but not the Fairy Wife of her Tale). Moreover, the debate about "gentillesse" is a distraction from the central discussion of "maistrie".
Chaucer doubtless sees that these weaknesses are those of the Wife, as narrator: before this the Pilgrims have had many excellent examples of differing kinds, and many more will follow. Part of the skill and humour of the whole work lies in the exceptions that prove the rule - one of the two tales offered by Chaucer (the pilgrim, supposedly reporting the others' tales) is so tedious he is obliged to give up and try another.
The fairy tale setting is surprising, in a narrator so much in love with the everyday world. The account of "gentillesse" reminds us of the Wife's capacity for irrelevance, but this philosophical argument does not seem authentic - her Prologue gives us no reason to believe that the Wife values "gentillesse" at all.
It may be that the Fairy Wife represents what the Wife of Bath, conscious already of the passing of her youth ("the flour is gone") fears she will become, while the renewal of youth is her wishful thinking. The transformation of the conduct of the Wife of Bath towards Jankin in the real world is symbolically depicted in the "faery" world as the transformation of outward appearance. Thus the Tale becomes a reworking of the final part of the Prologue, as the husband gives his wife sovereignty, and marital bliss follows, "unto hir lives ende": unfortunately for Jankin, this came rather soon.
It may be also that we hear the real Wife of Bath most clearly in the (apparently improvised) opening lines of the Tale, in which she praises the activities of friars - ironically, as the finale shows: "And he ne wel doon hem but dishonour".
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.
Chaucer doubtless sees that these weaknesses are those of the Wife, as narrator: before this the Pilgrims have had many excellent examples of differing kinds, and many more will follow. Part of the skill and humour of the whole work lies in the exceptions that prove the rule - one of the two tales offered by Chaucer (the pilgrim, supposedly reporting the others' tales) is so tedious he is obliged to give up and try another.
The fairy tale setting is surprising, in a narrator so much in love with the everyday world. The account of "gentillesse" reminds us of the Wife's capacity for irrelevance, but this philosophical argument does not seem authentic - her Prologue gives us no reason to believe that the Wife values "gentillesse" at all.
It may be that the Fairy Wife represents what the Wife of Bath, conscious already of the passing of her youth ("the flour is gone") fears she will become, while the renewal of youth is her wishful thinking. The transformation of the conduct of the Wife of Bath towards Jankin in the real world is symbolically depicted in the "faery" world as the transformation of outward appearance. Thus the Tale becomes a reworking of the final part of the Prologue, as the husband gives his wife sovereignty, and marital bliss follows, "unto hir lives ende": unfortunately for Jankin, this came rather soon.
It may be also that we hear the real Wife of Bath most clearly in the (apparently improvised) opening lines of the Tale, in which she praises the activities of friars - ironically, as the finale shows: "And he ne wel doon hem but dishonour".
Moore, Andrew. "Studying the Wife of Bath's Tale." Teachit - English Teaching Resources. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/poetry/wifebath.htm>.