The Tale of The Wife of Bath

‘The Wife of Bath’ story is from The Canterbury Tales written in 1400.
Not very appropriate to today you might think.

Well, it turns out the  Wife of Bath is a very independent minded woman, an early Feminist in fact, and this is a very timely story to tell around International Women’s Day on 8^th March 2024.

Did you read the Canterbury Tales at school? 

It was a series of stories told to each other by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, in or around 1400.

Not very relevant today you might think, and as it was in medieval English, not very easy to read.

In her Prologue the Wife of Bath talks about herself and that she has been married several times. The men she married brought the usual challenges and weaknesses. She has managed to outlive them all. She is on the lookout for another, but he must have the right qualities. Apparently, she is heckled about it by some of the men in the party but she will not be put down.

Then she tells her story.

It concerns a handsome young knight who is convicted of the rape of a young girl. Instead of the immediate punishment of death, the women of the court prevail on the judge to give him an opportunity to redeem himself and learn a valuable lesson.

He is given a year to find the answer to the question ‘What is it that every woman wants?’

When the year is nearly up he has still not found the answer.

On the last day he meets an unattractive old woman. She tells him she knows the answer to what every woman wants. She says she will tell him provided he agrees to marry her and give ‘what her what every woman wants’.

In desperation, he agrees.

She tells him that what all women want is ‘Control’.
That is control over their life, their body, and their money, and yes, their marriage and their intimate relationships. They want to have the freedom to choose.

So he gives the answer to the court and wins his freedom.

When he marries the old woman he finds she turns into a beautiful woman and we hope they live happily ever after, because she gets what every woman wants!

Today we may not use the word ‘Control’ as it has too many unpleasant overtones of controlling others.

Maybe we would say Agency but certainly we would say ‘freedom to make her own choices’ without obligation to a man or to society.

Footnote – The author of the Canterbury Tales was Geoffrey Chaucer.   Feminists today question how a man, and a medieval man at that, could be so astute in his understanding about what women want. And not just women of his time of 1400, but of all time!

Goes to show wisdom about human behaviour can come from any source irrespective of gender!

Please let me know what you think. You can email me at [email protected]

love Jean