ENGL-2322
Misogyny in the Wife of Bath’s Tale
In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” is one of the
most controversial stories since it was told by a woman in a time when women were viewed as
objects rather than individuals. In the prologue, the Wife of Bath confesses that she has had five
husbands in a time when even a second marriage is considered suspect. Even more controversial,
she states that sex can be used for pleasure and not only for procreation and goes against the
ideals that women should be submissive to men when it comes to sex. The prologue is longer
than the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” itself, which gives much insight into her history and the reasoning
behind the way she can speak from experience. In my opinion, the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” is
meant to uphold the misogynistic ideals of her time due to the way that her character is outlined
in the prologue as well as the story.
The sovereignty over men is the one of the main themes of the tale, and is very similar to
how the Wife of Bath had complete control over each of her five husbands. It would have been
very highly frowned upon by the church at the time to have this sort of view upon marriage that
she had, by using marriage as a tool to become wealthy and gain status. It goes against the
authority of the church, and would have also reinforced the misogynistic views that many men
had about women at the time as being deceitful and evil. She likens marriage to a “debt” that
men and women have together by stating:
“Why sholde men ells in hir books sette
That man shal yeelde to his wif hir dette?
Now wherwith sholde he make his payement
If he ne used his sely instrument?”
Misogyny in the Wife of Bath’s Tale
In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” is one of the
most controversial stories since it was told by a woman in a time when women were viewed as
objects rather than individuals. In the prologue, the Wife of Bath confesses that she has had five
husbands in a time when even a second marriage is considered suspect. Even more controversial,
she states that sex can be used for pleasure and not only for procreation and goes against the
ideals that women should be submissive to men when it comes to sex. The prologue is longer
than the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” itself, which gives much insight into her history and the reasoning
behind the way she can speak from experience. In my opinion, the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” is
meant to uphold the misogynistic ideals of her time due to the way that her character is outlined
in the prologue as well as the story.
The sovereignty over men is the one of the main themes of the tale, and is very similar to
how the Wife of Bath had complete control over each of her five husbands. It would have been
very highly frowned upon by the church at the time to have this sort of view upon marriage that
she had, by using marriage as a tool to become wealthy and gain status. It goes against the
authority of the church, and would have also reinforced the misogynistic views that many men
had about women at the time as being deceitful and evil. She likens marriage to a “debt” that
men and women have together by stating:
“Why sholde men ells in hir books sette
That man shal yeelde to his wif hir dette?
Now wherwith sholde he make his payement
If he ne used his sely instrument?”
