Canterbury Tales

of the reality in the 14th century. The Wife of Bath's Tale is told by the character named Alison who explains the tricks of her trade and defends a life style that might be shocking if it were not presented with such energy and humor. The Wife of Bath's Tale is spoken by a woman of exceeding experience with husbands, with strong opinions on how married life should be

conducted. The open discussion about women's views about love and lust makes this prologue a revolutionary document.

The Wife has multiple marriages: "…Five husbands have I had at the church door." (p183) She emphasizes that out of the five three were old and rich and two young and wild. The older ones, she says, were good because she could bring them under her control through her tirades against the ways women are treated. Further, once they had passed on she had more love to give but moreover she required more love. She does not believe in monogamy in fact she believes that people can love and marry more than one person in their lifetime “Welcome the sixth, whenever he comes along.”(p.185)

Chaucer is able to undermine the traditional medieval view, sanctioned by the church fat

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Some common words found in the essay are:
Chaucer Alison, Bath's Tale, Wife Bath, Bath Chaucer, wife bath, , Wife Bath's, wife bath's tale, love little, love lust, wife bath's, fifth marriage, welcome sixth, love soon, bath's tale,
Approximate Word count = 932
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)