In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales: “The Wife of Bath”, one acquires insight on the character Wife of Bath and how her ideals and principles differ from the customs in medieval times. Wife of Bath was a perceptive and dominant women that was looked upon as a gold digger that used her body as a way to get around the bushes with men. While it may be true, it is without a doubt that she expressed actions that where desired by many women at the time, but were resistant to show these actions because it went against social regulations.
Having been married and widowed five times, Wife of Bath was a very insightful and perceptive women. Her name, Wife of Bath, can be interpreted as her being the wife or lover of all the men in the city of…
Back then, the men were the ones in power and the women were either wives or nuns. Wife of Bath completely broke off from tradition and from the Church beliefs. She used her body sexually as a way to influence her husbands into satisfying her needs. One can notice the control she had over men when she states, “I laugh now when I think how pitifully by night I made them swink… they’d given me their gold, and treasure more; I needed not do longer diligence to win their love” (lines 201-206). According to this, one can infer that Wife of Bath used the power of sex as a way to gain wealth from her husbands. Along with money, her biggest desire was also sovereignty. A husband needs to allow to be dominated by his wife, so that in return the wife is able to please him. When Wife of Bath is telling her tale she helps readers understand the power women have over men by detailing the relationship between the King and Queen. “But that the Queen, and the other ladies too, implored the king to exercise his grace so ceaselessly, he gave the queen the case” (lines 70-72). Clearly it is shown how the King gave into the Queens request, demonstrating the control women can have on their husbands or lovers. Evidently, the dominant characteristic in Wife of Bath is a keen factor that contributes to the overall theme of the story.
Ultimately, the Wife of Bath was…
