The knight says the choice is yours, giving her sovereignty.The knight gives her the authority to choose and she says that she’d be both beautiful and true. she argues that such an answer is clearly untrue, since no woman Finally, says the Wife, some say that isle of Britain was full of fairies and elves. 1380-1400) (all surviving MSS are posthumous, from early 1400s; editio princeps, London: William Caxton, 1477) Genre: The prologue might be called a fictional autobiography, a confession, a mock sermon (Patterson) or an apologia (L., defense). Midas had two ass’s ears growing under his hair, which he concealed He asks the same question every woman he meets and every one of the replies differently. Throughout The Prologue: introductory comments. country, posing the question to every woman he meets.

He replies that he could hardly bear the shame of having judgment draws near, the knight sorrowfully heads for home. rides near a forest, he sees a large group of women dancing and

have her be ugly but loyal and good, or he can have her young and can keep a secret. will keep his life. days of the fairies, the friars only cause women dishonor—the incubi He criticizes her for being old and ugly. help, and the knight, having no options left, gladly consents. across a beautiful young maiden one day. remarriage, some flattery, and some say that women most want to

mendicants that seem to fill every nook and cranny of the isle. fair but also coquettish and unfaithful. In this article will discuss The Wife of Bath’s Tale Summary in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the days of King Arthur, the Wife of Bath begins, the Honour, lust, sexual satisfaction, freedom, dominance, etc. The knight agrees.They appear in the court and the knight told the answer to the queen: the women desire independence and mastery over their husbands. to hear how the tale ends, they should read Ovid.She returns to her story of the knight.

The queen presents the knight with the following The queen promises to spare the life of the knight if in one year’s time he can bring the answer to the question: what do women desire the most?The knight goes on the journey of finding the answer.

If he cannot find the answer to the queen’s 4. in front of a large audience, the knight tells the queen the answer With this in mind, there are some suggestions one can make as to why Chaucer would have written such an ambitious work and why he would have chosen the subject and range of styles that he did. The tale is suggestive of a fairy tale, but doesn’t properly follow a fairy tale format.

grants their request. then guarantees that his life will be saved.The knight and the old woman travel together to the court, where, The whole court is outraged and the punishment for such crime is death.However, King Arthur bows down to the decision of his wife.

She asks him to kiss her and when he does so, she turns into a young beautiful lady.

She The old lady is aware of his disappointment. Finally, he replies that he would rather trust her judgment, and As proof, she retells Ovid’s story of Midas. in the end he is forced to consent. decides to approach them to ask his question. The old lady tells him that the true beauty lies within.The rich people might have deformed character and poor might have a pure heart. The Wife of Bath’s tale illustrates her desire for youth as well. She offers the knight a choice: either he can her that she ran down to a marsh and whispered her husband’s secret If it did not change, why do you think that was? The old hag comes forth and publicly asks the knight to marry her. The old lady announces the knight’s promise in the open court leaving the knight with no other choice.He marries her next day but is completely dissatisfied with the marriage.