Critical Commentary on “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” by
Geoffrey Chaucer from “The Canterbury Tales”
“Allas! Allas! That evere love was synne!”- Debates about the Wife of Bath-
Nigel Wheale
● Arguably, the Wife of Bath’s Prologue is the most revised piece of text in
The Canterbury Tales, showing Chaucer’s focus on her character.
● “Alisoun” is controversial and polemic, which encourages
reader/audience engagement.
○ The entertaining aspects (and the performative aspect of the text)
hold the audience’s interest
● The sociological context of 14th Century England
○ Society was recovering from the plague, making the final line
even more shocking (“God sende hem soone verray pestilence!”)
○ The plague had disrupted the social hierarchy with mass
population loss. This led to a new economic structure as the lower
classes began to improve their social status through business
(like the Wife’s cloth trade).
■ The Wife’s cloth trade is established early in the General
Prologue (“Of clooth-making she hadde swich an haunt, /
She passed hem Ypres and of Gaunt.”)
■ This economic independence allows the Wife a degree of
freedom
● The undermining of anti-feminist literature
○ The Wife rejects expectations as a “good wife” (as described in
the Book of Proverbs), who is dedicated to her husband and
children.
○ Alisoun acknowledges the fact that marriage exists to “wexe and
multiplye”, but does not acknowledge any children of her own,
showing how she uses biblical teachings to her advantage.
,● Experience and authority
○ The prologue can be interpreted as a mock sermon, criticising
Church power and influence over women and marriage
○ “Experience, though noon auctoritee / Were in this world, is right
ynough for me” (Lines 1-2)- the power of the knowledge gained
from experience is set against the power of written scholarly
authority (particularly from the Catholic Church)
○ Female “experience” is set against male “learning”
■ “Experience” is an example of borrowing French language
or English words with franco-influence (French was the
language of court)
○ Experience can also be seen as sexual experience and
knowledge
■ “She koude of that art the olde daunce”- General Prologue
● Religious undertones
○ During the 14th Century, there were several anti-clerical
movements which are potentially reflected in Chaucer’s language.
■ Eg. the Lollard movement which made radical criticisms of
the relationship between the Church, the state, and wider
society
○ The Church tried to push the general public, especially women,
out of religious power
■ The Bible wouldn't be translated into English for over a
century
■ This attitude is seen when the Friar reacts to the Wife’s
contributions to theological argument
■ “Lete auctoritees, on Goddes name / To prechying, and to
scoles of clergye” (Lines 1274-1277)
○ The Prologue may be interpreted as a woman’s attempt to
infiltrate the exclusively male domain of the sermon
● The Wife of Bath’s Tale
, ○ At first glance, the Tale is a simple story of wish fulfillment- the
“loathly lady” can be young, beautiful, and of high rank (as the
Wife desires to be).
■ This would be a typically feminine version of the traditional
parable
○ The trope of “The Loathly Lady and the Converted Knight” was
common in mediaeval literature, but Chaucer is unique in
including his extensive debate on gentilesse.
■ “Heere may ye se wel how that genterye / Is nat annexed to
possessioun” (Lines 1146-1147)
● The concept of unconditional love in the Wife of Bath
○ “I ne loved nevere by no discrecioun, / But evere folwede myn
appetit, / Al were he short, or long, or blak, or whit; / I took no kep,
so that he liked me, / How poore he was, ne eek of what degree”
(Lines 622-626)
○ Messianic unconditional love
Love and Marriage in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue”
● The Wife explores themes of misogyny, monogamy, and misogamy.
● The Wife embraces sexual pleasure as a virtue.
Geoffrey Chaucer from “The Canterbury Tales”
“Allas! Allas! That evere love was synne!”- Debates about the Wife of Bath-
Nigel Wheale
● Arguably, the Wife of Bath’s Prologue is the most revised piece of text in
The Canterbury Tales, showing Chaucer’s focus on her character.
● “Alisoun” is controversial and polemic, which encourages
reader/audience engagement.
○ The entertaining aspects (and the performative aspect of the text)
hold the audience’s interest
● The sociological context of 14th Century England
○ Society was recovering from the plague, making the final line
even more shocking (“God sende hem soone verray pestilence!”)
○ The plague had disrupted the social hierarchy with mass
population loss. This led to a new economic structure as the lower
classes began to improve their social status through business
(like the Wife’s cloth trade).
■ The Wife’s cloth trade is established early in the General
Prologue (“Of clooth-making she hadde swich an haunt, /
She passed hem Ypres and of Gaunt.”)
■ This economic independence allows the Wife a degree of
freedom
● The undermining of anti-feminist literature
○ The Wife rejects expectations as a “good wife” (as described in
the Book of Proverbs), who is dedicated to her husband and
children.
○ Alisoun acknowledges the fact that marriage exists to “wexe and
multiplye”, but does not acknowledge any children of her own,
showing how she uses biblical teachings to her advantage.
,● Experience and authority
○ The prologue can be interpreted as a mock sermon, criticising
Church power and influence over women and marriage
○ “Experience, though noon auctoritee / Were in this world, is right
ynough for me” (Lines 1-2)- the power of the knowledge gained
from experience is set against the power of written scholarly
authority (particularly from the Catholic Church)
○ Female “experience” is set against male “learning”
■ “Experience” is an example of borrowing French language
or English words with franco-influence (French was the
language of court)
○ Experience can also be seen as sexual experience and
knowledge
■ “She koude of that art the olde daunce”- General Prologue
● Religious undertones
○ During the 14th Century, there were several anti-clerical
movements which are potentially reflected in Chaucer’s language.
■ Eg. the Lollard movement which made radical criticisms of
the relationship between the Church, the state, and wider
society
○ The Church tried to push the general public, especially women,
out of religious power
■ The Bible wouldn't be translated into English for over a
century
■ This attitude is seen when the Friar reacts to the Wife’s
contributions to theological argument
■ “Lete auctoritees, on Goddes name / To prechying, and to
scoles of clergye” (Lines 1274-1277)
○ The Prologue may be interpreted as a woman’s attempt to
infiltrate the exclusively male domain of the sermon
● The Wife of Bath’s Tale
, ○ At first glance, the Tale is a simple story of wish fulfillment- the
“loathly lady” can be young, beautiful, and of high rank (as the
Wife desires to be).
■ This would be a typically feminine version of the traditional
parable
○ The trope of “The Loathly Lady and the Converted Knight” was
common in mediaeval literature, but Chaucer is unique in
including his extensive debate on gentilesse.
■ “Heere may ye se wel how that genterye / Is nat annexed to
possessioun” (Lines 1146-1147)
● The concept of unconditional love in the Wife of Bath
○ “I ne loved nevere by no discrecioun, / But evere folwede myn
appetit, / Al were he short, or long, or blak, or whit; / I took no kep,
so that he liked me, / How poore he was, ne eek of what degree”
(Lines 622-626)
○ Messianic unconditional love
Love and Marriage in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue”
● The Wife explores themes of misogyny, monogamy, and misogamy.
● The Wife embraces sexual pleasure as a virtue.
