The Wife of Bath’s Tale Video

“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is among the most iconic poems in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Written between 1387 and 1400, The Canterbury Tales is comprised of 24 tales narrated as part of a storytelling contest between a group of pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint à Thomas Becket.

“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is widely recognized as a protofeminist work since the story explores the double standard applied to women in Chaucer’s era. In medieval England, women were afforded limited agency with constraints on their gender roles and identities. Whatever little power men allowed them to possess was attributed to their social rank and marital status. Therefore, The Wife of Bath is one of Chaucer’s most developed and outspoken characters, with her descriptive and unconventional prologue weighing in at double the length of those of her fellow pilgrims.

The Wife of Bath begins the prologue to her tale by making a case for the importance of life experience for women. Having married five times herself, she argues that the Bible does not prohibit women from marrying more than once, as Abraham and Solomon did. Instead, she says, the Bible orders people to “go forth and multiply,” which she interprets as license to use her body however she chooses.

Soon, the Pardoner, a shameless seller of Catholic pardons for sins, interrupts. He claims that he was about to take a wife, but that the Wife of Bath has put him off of the idea. The Wife of Bath advises him to listen carefully to her tale before forming an opinion on the matter.

The Wife of Bath goes on to describe her five husbands, three of whom she characterizes as “good.” However, she defines “good” as rich, old, and submissive and goes on to detail the various ways in which she manipulated these men for money. Her tactics included withholding intimacy, nagging at them, and accusing them of infidelity. This last ploy is especially hypocritical, since she admits to having been adulterous herself.

In contrast, the Wife of Bath describes the following two husbands as “bad.” Her fourth spouse was a drunk who kept a mistress, while her fifth husband, Jankin, was kind to her in the bedroom but beat her viciously. Jankin was half the Wife’s age yet often read to her from a book of “wicked wives,” a volume of antifeminist literature that she forced him to burn after a particularly violent fight. Once he had submitted to her in this way, Jankin and the Wife of Bath enjoyed a perfectly happy marriage.

At this point, the Friar, a corrupt clergyman, mocks the Wife of Bath for her long-windedness. But the Summoner, another hypocritical religious figure, tells the friar to sit down, remarking that friars are notorious for their long stories. The friar retorts that, when his turn comes, he will seek his revenge by telling a farcical tale about a summoner.

Finally, the Wife of Bath arrives at her tale, which is set in the time of King Arthur. While riding home from a hawking expedition, one of the king’s knights happens upon a maiden walking alone. He violates her, a crime punishable by death at the time. But when he appears before the king, the queen intervenes, promising to spare the knight’s life if he can answer one question: “what do women most desire?”

Given one year to answer this query, the knight journeys far and wide, asking the question of everyone he encounters, but no two people give the same answer. Whereas, some say wealth, others say status, freedom, or good lovers. A year passes, and the knight journeys back home to appear before the queen. But on his way, he encounters a group of 24 maidens dancing in the forest.

He approaches the women, but they suddenly disappear, leaving only an ugly old woman. She agrees to provide the correct answer to the queen’s question, but on the condition that he do whatever she asks. He agrees, and she whispers the answer into his ear.

When they arrive at court, the knight relays the old woman’s answer to the queen: that women desire sovereignty over their husbands most of all. The queen agrees, pardoning him, but the knight is loathe to follow through with his promise when the old woman announces that he must now take her as his wife. Left with no way out of his promise, the knight marries the old crone.

Lying in bed together after the wedding, the old woman notes the knight’s unhappiness and gives him a choice: would he rather have an old, ugly wife who is entirely faithful to him or a young, fair wife who cuckolds him. The knight thinks hard but cannot arrive at an answer and finally tells the woman to choose whichever option she thinks would bring the most honor.

“Then I have got mastery over you” the woman says, asking the knight to lift her veil. The knight is shocked to find that the old crone has transformed into a young and beautiful woman.

In closing, the Wife of Bath says that the couple lived happily ever after and closes her tale by praying that Christ grant all women submissive husbands who satisfy their wives and strike down any men who will not.