Although most of her arguments are presented in her extensive prologue, The Wife of Bath's tale exemplifies her position that women seek dominance in marriage. In the tale, a knight rapes a woman. To escape being hung, his punishment is that he must find out what it is that women most desire. He discovers from an old ugly women that, "Wommen desiren to have sovereynetee/ As wel over hir housband as hir love,/ And for to been in maistrie hym aboveaE? (l 1038-1040). The knight is then forced by the queen to upho

Walter then cruelly and needlessly tests his wife to prove her worthiness. When Walter takes Griselda's children, she remains humble and patient. When Walter tells his wife that he wishes to marry another, Griselda replies, aE?Ne shal the goost withinne myn herte stente/ To love yow best with al my trewe ententeaE? (l 972-973). Finally Walter tells Griselda, aE?Now knowe I, dere wyf, thy stedfastnesseaE? and then he gives their children back to her (l 1056). The Clerk affirms that perhaps Griselda is too patient, but he rejects the Wife of Bath's notion that a woman should be the dominant force in a marriage.

The marriage in the Franklin's tale is one of mutual accord and mutual commitment. The marriage of Dorigen and Averagus, a knight, is based on the notion that, "Love wol nat been constreyned by maistryeaE? (l 764). When a squire, Aurelius confesses his love for Dorigen to her, being a faithful wife she rejects him saying, "Ne shal I nevere been untrewe wyf/ In word ne werkaE? (l 984-985). But then she tells him that if he can complete the impossible task

Some common words found in the essay are:
Wife Bath's, Dorigen Averagus, Walter Griselda, Wife Bath, Geoffrey Chaucer's, Finally Walter, Canterbury Tales, Bath's Clerk, Clerk Franklin, wife bath's, Comments Marriage, view marriage, franklin's tale, word ne, complete sovereignty, opposite view, wife bath, walter tells, canterbury tales,
Approximate Word count = 724
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)