The Wife of Baths Tale, from The Canterbury Tales (pages 184-196) Written by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill

Coghill What is the knights quest? What is his crime? Overcome by lust and his sense of his own power, he rapes a beautiful young maiden one day. The queen presents the knight with a challenge that, if completed, will spare his life: discovering what women want most in the world and report his finding back to the court. According to this tale, what do women really want in life? Women want to be in charge of their husbands and lovers. Why does the Wife of Bath tell her tale? To suggest that women, ugly or fair, should be obeyed in all things by their husbands How does the knight show that he has finally learned his lesson? He replies that he would rather trust her judgment and asks her to choose whatever she think best. What persuasive arguments does the old woman use to sway the knight to her point of view? She calmly asks him whether real gentillesse, or noble character, can be hereditary (1109). There have been sons of noble fathers, she argues, who were shameful and villainous, though they shared the same blood. Her family may be poor, but real poverty lies in covetousness, and real riches lie in having little and wanting nothing. She offers the knight a choice: either he can have her be ugly but loyal and good, or he can have her young and beautiful, but unfaithful. How would the Wife of Bath fit into contemporary society? What social trends would she support or reject? The Wife of Bath would be a modern day mentor, perhaps an older mom or grandma that supports the increasing participation of women in politics. She would disapprove of thats what she said jokes and sexist comments against women.