The Wife of Bath
By: Ben Swauger, Janie Wilcox, Robyn Yurek, Brooke
Shank, Liz Laughlin, and Hannah Barkell
Love Life
● First married when she was 12
● She used her first 3 husbands to become rich and gain herself power.
● First 3 husbands were rich, old, and submissive
o Easily dominated/suffered her abuse
 were happy when she simply spoke nice to them
o Rich and somewhat powerful
o So old they couldn’t have sex
● Her fourth husband was a cheater and had a mistress
o in order to dominate him, she pretended like she was cheating on him
and he became super jealous
o she hated that he liked other women
Love Life
● She really loved her 5th husband despite his flaws
o He beat her
o He was coy, good in bed, and was always able to win her back
o She married him for love and not money
o She was twice as old as him.
● She met Jankyn, her fifth husband, when she was still married to her
fourth
o She told him that she would marry him if she were widowed
o She also lies to him and says that he enchanted her and she had a
dream about him killing her in her sleep, filling her bed with blood.
● She acted very sad when her fourth husband died even though she wasn’t
because she already had a 5th husband in place.
● She regretted the age difference because he wouldn’t take her abuse and
abused her.
o but she loved that she couldn’t control him.
Religion
● The Wife of Bath was a very Christianic woman but she picked and chose
what she actually wanted to follow/believe.
● She uses her own experience and a number of biblical references to
challenge the authority of church doctrine and that of her husbands.
● She believed that women could have multiple husbands just as men can
have multiple wives.
o She uses Solomon, Abraham, and Jacob from the bible as examples of
men who have had multiple wives.
● She believed that God made sex not only for reproduction, but for pleasure
as well.
1300’s Chicks
● Submit to your husband or
become a hooker was the
motto.
o During the 1300’s,
prostitution was legal.
● Women Were treated as
property in the 1300’s.
1300’s Chicks
they had no rights, their husbands ruled.
Women were second to any man.
Women were given a husband or forced to marry.
Some men would force their sisters and even mothers to marry him.
Some widowed women were sent to nunneries after their husbands died.
A small amount of very powerful women could hold land and even if she
married, the land would be given to her children.
● The common household wife had no rights.
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Video WOO
http://youtu.be/e3cvOm7qS
tk
The Wife of Bath Tale
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During the time of King Arthur there were things called elves and fairies. They vanished because
mendicants and friars took over their roles.
o In this time, Incubus- a male demon who was believed to have sex with sleeping women in
attempt to get them pregnant. Rape in this time was believed to just cause a woman
dishonor.
The young knight raped a girl he liked very much.
The court wanted him to be put to death but the Queen gave him another chance.
o The Queen gave him the challenge to discover what women want most in the world and
report his findings back to the court within a year. If he was unable to do so they would
take his head.
The knight asked every women he met. They all had different answers such as money, honor,
looks, sex, ect. An old woman he met on his journey said that women want to be in charge of
their husbands and lovers. That was the answer he was looking for.
The woman tells him he must pledge himself to her in return for her help. As he was running out
of options he accepted her offer.
Wife of Bath Tale(continued)
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The knight and the old woman travel back to the court to share his findings. All the women agree
and they spare the Knight’s life.
The old lady publicly asks him to marry her and he resists as much as he can until he is forced
into to marrying her.
During their first night together the Knight is miserable.
o The old lady asks why he is so sad. He answers her by saying he can hardly bare the shame
of having such an ugly, lowborn wife. she does not take offense but says that she can be
ugly but loyal and good or be young and fair but also coquettish and unfaithful to him. The
Knight says he trusts her judgement and asks her to choose what she thinks is best, she
becomes both beautiful and good.
o The Wife of Bath concludes with a plea that Jesus Christ send all women husbands who are
young, meek, and fresh in bed, and the grace to outlive their husbands.
Snooki and the Wife
Young Snooki and the wife of bath
love to make love and get into trouble.
Snooki is a lot like the wife of bath. The
wife of bath loves to dress very elegantly
just like snooki likes to look nice when she
goes out.
Young Snooki always has a new boy
friend just like the wife of bath who goes
through husbands faster than Snooki goes
through a new outfit.
They are both loud mouths and pick fights
with whoever will fight back.
Both women are strong and able
to be independent even though the men
dont always play a big role in their lives.
Important Themes
-Female Dominance
-Behavior in Marriage
-Antifeminism (inability to keep secrets)
-Ugly woman into beautiful woman
-Satire (of knight, of women)
How does the Wife of Bath
Relate to her characters?
● Young Maiden who was raped
o The Wife of Bath was treated the same with her
abusive husbands
● Old Hag
o She was able to manipulate the man to gain herself
power just like the Wife of Bath did with every single
one of her marriages.
Critical Thinking
1. How accurate is it that women like to have control over their husbands?
Could this still apply to today? If not, what do you think women desire
most?
2. Is the knight’s punishment appropriate for his crime?
3. Why do you think the wife turns both beautiful and faithful? Do you think
the knight truly respects her or is she just superficial?