The Canterbury Tales

1
The Canterbury Tales

• The Pardoners Tale
• The Wife of Bath
• By Geoffrey Chaucer

2
The Wife of Bath

• Is well traveled and experienced with love and
  sex.
• Has had five (5) husbands
• Prologue acts as an autobiography for the WOB.
• Uses Scripture to support her arguments, in
  misquoting the Scripture, Chaucer is making a
  mockery of the church.

3
The Wife of Bath

• Wife of Bath is seen as one of the first feminist
  characters in literature.
• Gluttony and lust seem to be the vices seen in
  the WOBs Tale and Prologue.
• The WOB is sensitive about her age, line 282,
  making her seem real to readers.
• Her fifth husband, Johnny is the one that she
  married for love, not money.

4
The Wife of Bath

• The WOB reveals the power she has over men is
  sexual power and has a fondness for the man she
  cannot control.

5
The Wife of Baths Tale

• One message she tries to convey through her story
  is that whether they are repulsive or beautiful,
  women should be respected by men always.
• The old hag shows her inner beauty to her younger
  husband, as the WOB did to her fifth husband
  Johnny.

6
The Wife of Baths Tale

• Knight in King Arthurs court takes her the
  maidens maidenhead (raped her)
• Punished to death, but the Queen (a woman) gives
  him an alternate punishment.
• Punished to find what is the thing that women
  most desire?
• Has twelve months and one day to come up with the
  answer.