Women and Marriage in The Wife of Bath

The old hag asks that the knight should marry him, and her wish was granted since he had no other choice. On their wedding night, she inquires something, and the knight responded by saying that the decision is hers. Realizing that she had won over him, she changes to a lovely young woman, and they live happily together. The tale confronts that feminine power does not need strict limitations, that women should not be judged for having many spouses just like men are not. Women and marriage as topics can be both paired and contrasted. Knight’s punishment to find out what women want is significant since it expands on what are the desires of women in general and what they say about their nature.

Women are shown to be inferior secret keepers from the statement “but that tale is not worth a rake-stele, Pardee we women konne no thing hele” (pg. 955-956) describing women as chatterboxes and gossips who were unselective. The wife describes this when she explains the shame she caused her husband by her inability to keep a secret. She reveals everything through her gossips. The passage in (pg. 975-979) likens the speech of the wife to a “bitore” a type of bird. According to tradition women’s speech was viewed as meaningless as the singing of the birds. The comparison denied the capability of women of saying anything relevant or useful. The statement was like the sounds of animals. The quest for superiority does not end making decisions but also in controlling the body of men.

Marriage The wife defends marriage saying that those who chose to marry may not be so perfect spiritually as those who opt not to but they are still obeying God. She seems to be firmly in favor of marriage due to sex, wealth and a comfortable living through the husband. The description of her three husbands as being only with them for sex and the money explains that marriage is a good thing for women but for men they should be cautious. Wives were seen as property in marriage view. The wife uses this to justify those who marry as also obeying the law along with those who don’t marry. The wife describes a great husband in comparison with his perfect genital region and money.

The wife shows this by repeating so many times in her prologue calling the testicles as “nether purs” or lower purse (pg. This shows the wife’s value of money and sex in a husband. That the perfect husband should be good in bed to satisfy her and have money to cater for her needs. The rule of a woman becoming a celibate after the death of her husband was commonly practiced in these times. Instead of fulfilling the desire of the flesh by marrying, again and again, she was to become a nun. Marriage is shown not to be as valuable, sacred and precious as people think that was to be at that time. It magnifies the importance of property and wealth, destroys the society and reduces intimacy.

The wife’s explanation of having five husbands three old and rich and two younger, the three giving money but weak in the bedroom and the young gave good sex but were hard to control. Abuse in marriage is condemned though her strategy works well. The wife had an experience of settling with five husbands does not behave as she should in any of the marriages. She doesn’t conform to any expectations of her as a role of a wife. For example, she tells her old husbands a lie of them, getting drunk and saying abusive words. She fails to keep her husband’s secrets in public and reports them in gossips Women and marriage are a significant theme in the tale.