The Wife of Bath’s Tale - Poem Summary

Summary

In Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales,' the Wife of Bath's tale stands out as an early feminist narrative. Set in medieval England, it critiques societal double standards for women, highlighting the character's five marriages and her quest for agency. The tale, through the story of a knight seeking the answer to what women desire most, ultimately argues for women's sovereignty in marriage, ending with a transformative twist that underscores the theme of female empowerment.

Takeaways

• 📜 'The Wife of Bath's Tale' is one of the 24 stories in Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales', written in the late 14th century.
• 🎭 The tales are part of a storytelling contest among pilgrims traveling to Canterbury to visit St. Thomas Becket's shrine.
• 💪 The Wife of Bath's story is considered a proto-feminist work, challenging the double standards for women in Chaucer's medieval England.
• 🚫 Women in medieval times had limited agency and were constrained by strict gender roles and identities.
• 🗣️ The Wife of Bath is a well-developed character who uses her prologue to argue for the value of women's life experiences.
• 🤔 She uses biblical references to justify multiple marriages and argues for personal freedom in relationships.
• 💸 The Wife of Bath describes her marriages, emphasizing manipulation of her husbands for financial gain, revealing hypocrisy in her actions.
• 📚 The tale within the tale involves a knight who must answer the question of what women most desire to save his life.
• 🧙‍♀️ An old woman provides the answer, which is sovereignty over their husbands, and in return, the knight must marry her.
• 🔮 The old woman transforms into a young and beautiful woman after the knight gives her mastery over their relationship.
• 🙏 The Wife of Bath concludes her tale with a prayer for submissive husbands and a warning to men who won't comply.

Q & A

What is 'The Canterbury Tales' by Geoffrey Chaucer?

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is a narrative framework that includes a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, with each pilgrim telling two tales on the way there and two on the way back.

Why is 'The Wife of Bath's Tale' considered a proto-feminist work?

The Wife of Bath's Tale is considered proto-feminist because it explores the double standard applied to women in Chaucer's era, highlighting the limited agency and constraints on women's gender roles and identities in medieval England.

How does the Wife of Bath justify her multiple marriages?

The Wife of Bath justifies her multiple marriages by arguing that the Bible does not prohibit women from marrying more than once, citing examples of Abraham and Solomon, and interpreting the command to 'go forth and multiply' as a license to use her body as she chooses.

What is the role of the Pardoner in the Wife of Bath's Prologue?

The Pardoner interrupts the Wife of Bath's Prologue, claiming he was about to take a wife but has been deterred by her. The Wife of Bath advises him to listen to her tale before forming an opinion about marriage.

How does the Wife of Bath describe her five husbands?

The Wife of Bath describes her first three husbands as 'good,' defining 'good' as rich, old, and submissive. She details her manipulative tactics to gain money from them. Her fourth husband was a drunk who kept a mistress, and her fifth husband, Jenkin, was kind in the bedroom but abusive otherwise.

What is the significance of the book of wicked wives that Jenkin reads to the Wife of Bath?

The book of wicked wives represents anti-feminist literature, which the Wife of Bath forces Jenkin to burn after a particularly violent fight, symbolizing her resistance to the societal norms and expectations imposed on women.

How does the Wife of Bath's Tale begin?

The tale begins in the time of King Arthur, where a knight of the Round Table violates a maiden and is sentenced to death unless he can answer the question: 'What do women most desire?'

What is the answer to the knight's question as provided by the old woman?

The old woman tells the knight that women most desire sovereignty over their husbands, which he relays to the queen, sparing his life.

What is the transformation that occurs after the knight agrees to the old woman's condition?

After the knight agrees to marry the old woman, she transforms from an old crone into a young and beautiful woman, granting him both beauty and fidelity.

What does the Wife of Bath pray for at the end of her tale?

The Wife of Bath prays that Christ will grant all women submissive husbands who satisfy their wives and strike down any men who will not.

How does the interaction between the Wife of Bath and the Friar highlight the theme of hypocrisy?

The interaction shows hypocrisy as the Friar, a corrupt clergyman, mocks the Wife of Bath for her long-windedness, while the Summoner, another hypocritical religious figure, defends her, pointing out the Friar's own tendency for long stories.

Outlines

00:00

📜 The Canterbury Tales and the Wife of Bath's Prologue

This paragraph introduces 'The Wife of Bath's Tale' from Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales,' a collection of stories written between 1387 and 1400. It sets the stage for a storytelling contest among pilgrims traveling to Canterbury. The Wife of Bath is portrayed as a proto-feminist figure, challenging the double standards of her time. The paragraph details her unconventional prologue, her marriages, and her views on women's agency, including her manipulation of her husbands for financial gain. It also touches on the interactions with other pilgrims, such as the Pardoner and the Friar, highlighting the social commentary and humor in Chaucer's work.

05:01

🧙‍♀️ The Tale of the Knight and the Old Woman's Riddle

The second paragraph delves into the Wife of Bath's actual tale, which is a narrative set in the time of King Arthur. It tells the story of a knight who, after committing a crime, is given a year to find the answer to a riddle posed by the queen: 'What do women most desire?' The knight's journey to find the answer leads him to an old woman who, in exchange for the correct answer, asks him to marry her. The knight's dilemma and the old woman's transformation into a young beauty underscore the theme of sovereignty in marriage. The Wife of Bath concludes her tale with a prayer for submissive husbands, reinforcing the proto-feminist message of the story.

Keywords

💡The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14th century. It is the central work in the script, as it provides the framework for the storytelling contest that is the main narrative. The tales are told by a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury, each with their own story to tell, reflecting the diversity of medieval society.

💡The Wife of Bath

The Wife of Bath is one of the pilgrims in Chaucer's work and the narrator of one of the tales. She is a strong, outspoken character who challenges societal norms of her time. In the script, her tale is described as proto-feminist, highlighting the double standards applied to women and advocating for their agency and independence.

💡Proto-feminist

Proto-feminism refers to early forms of feminism that emerged before the organized feminist movement. In the context of the script, the Wife of Bath's tale is considered proto-feminist because it addresses gender inequality and advocates for women's rights and autonomy in a male-dominated society, which is a central theme of the video.

💡Double Standard

A double standard is a set of principles that are applied differently to different groups, often leading to inequality. In the script, the double standard is applied to women in Chaucer's era, where they were held to different moral and social expectations than men, particularly in matters of marriage and sexuality.

💡Medieval England

Medieval England refers to the period in English history from the 5th to the late 15th century. The script uses this term to set the historical context of the Canterbury Tales and to illustrate the societal norms and constraints that women faced during this time, which is crucial to understanding the Wife of Bath's story.

💡Agency

Agency refers to the capacity of an individual to act independently and make their own decisions. In the script, the concept of agency is central to the Wife of Bath's narrative, as she argues for women's right to have control over their own lives, particularly in matters of marriage and relationships.

💡Marital Status

Marital status refers to an individual's legal status in relation to marriage. In the script, the Wife of Bath discusses how women's social rank and power were often tied to their marital status, reflecting the limited agency women had in determining their own social standing.

💡Pardoner

The Pardoner is a character in the Canterbury Tales who sells indulgences, or pardons, for sins. In the script, the Pardoner interacts with the Wife of Bath, providing a contrast to her views and highlighting the corruption within the Church, which is a subplot that adds depth to the main narrative.

💡Knight's Tale

The Knight's Tale is one of the stories within the Canterbury Tales, but it is not directly mentioned in the script. However, the structure of the tales, including the Knight's Tale, provides the context for the Wife of Bath's story and the storytelling contest.

💡Sovereignty

Sovereignty, in the context of the script, refers to the power or right to control. The Wife of Bath's tale culminates in the revelation that women desire sovereignty over their husbands, challenging the traditional power dynamics in relationships and advocating for women's empowerment.

💡Transformation

Transformation is a central element in the Wife of Bath's tale, where an old woman transforms into a young and beautiful one. This transformation symbolizes the power of choice and the potential for change in relationships, as well as the theme of appearances versus reality.

Highlights

The Wife of Bath's Tale is an iconic poem in Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales', a collection of stories written between 1387 and 1400.

The tales are narrated by pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury to visit Saint Thomas A Becket's shrine.

The Wife of Bath's Tale is recognized as a proto-feminist work, exploring the double standard for women in Chaucer's era.

In medieval England, women had limited agency and gender roles were strictly defined by social rank and marital status.

The Wife of Bath is a well-developed character, with a prologue twice as long as others, advocating for women's life experience.

She argues that the Bible does not prohibit multiple marriages, citing Abraham and Solomon as examples.

The Wife of Bath uses her five marriages to discuss the manipulation of husbands for financial gain.

Her definition of 'good' husbands includes being rich, old, and submissive, which she exploited.

The Wife of Bath admits to adultery while accusing her husbands of infidelity, revealing hypocrisy.

Her fourth husband was a drunk who kept a mistress, contrasting with the 'good' husbands.

Jenkin, her fifth husband, was kind but abusive, and made to burn an anti-feminist book.

The Friar and the Summoner engage in a verbal spat, revealing the corruption within the clergy.

The knight's tale within the Wife of Bath's Tale involves a question about what women most desire.

The knight is given a year to find the answer to the queen's question, leading to diverse responses.

An old woman provides the answer that women desire sovereignty over their husbands.

The knight is forced to marry the old woman, who later transforms into a young, beautiful woman.

The Wife of Bath concludes her tale with a prayer for submissive husbands and the downfall of men who won't comply.

Transcripts

the wife of bath's tail is among the

most iconic poems in jeffrey 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 thomas a

beckett

the wife of bath's tale is widely

recognized as a proto-feminist 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

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 tail 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

the 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 jenkin

was kind to her in the bedroom

but beat her viciously

jenkin was half the wife's age yet often

read to her from a book of wicked wives

a volume of anti-feminist literature

that she forced him to burn after a

particularly violent fight

once he had submitted to her in this way

jenkin 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

till which is set in the time of king

arthur

while riding home from a hocking

expedition one of the king's nights

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 night's life if

he can answer one

question

what do women most desire

given one year to answer this query

the night 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 night 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 night is loath 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 tail by praying that christ

grant all women submissive husbands who

satisfy their wives and strike down any

men who will not