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Feminist Problems In Wife Of Bath
Clothed in stockings made of the finest scarlet cloth, bright and elaborate headdresses, shoes glossy enough to show your own reflection, the young woman of the town of Bath compares to none. She is the true representation of a romantic woman in the fourteenth century. But as they say, every light has its shadow and so does Alisoun, the Wife of Bath. Her elegant style and presence come with a price.
In the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer challenges our general schema of what a woman is and should act like. He presents a woman who is not so beautiful but how she carries herself makes her look appealing. She is very lustful, controlling, and has a short temper. She is also not afraid to defy stereotypes of what is expected of women especially when it comes to marriage. From the prologue, she is described as a worthy woman who has been married five times. What is very surprising about this information is that her first marriage was at the tender age of twelve. She openly admits that she married most of her husbands for money. This speaks volumes about the type of woman she is.
Her basis for marrying so many men is based on a biblical principle. We all have come across or have been told of the verse from the book of Genesis which instructs Christians to be fruitful and to multiply. Some people might have applied it a lot more in their lives than others. One of those people being the wife of Bath. She uses this as an excuse for her behavior and lifestyle choices. She also uses the story of Solomon to excuse her sexual appetite. Her sexual appetite is very high to the point where she even lets everyone know that she is searching for a sixth husband. She says “Welcome the sixte when that ever he shall!” (Chaucer 51). However, her intention for marrying these men is wrong, to begin with, according to the bible. When one thinks about marriage, oftentimes they think about two people coming together before a priest, celebrating love, and exchanging rings. Marriage is far more complex and important than just an exchange of jewelry. Because it is so important to God, the misuse of it can lead to serious consequences. This is visible in the marriages of the Wife of Bath. The dynamic of her marriages changes drastically because marriage is an important sacrament that has been blessed by God himself and takes place in his presence. She is clearly not a fan of this practice and so she disregards marriage and gets punished for it.
She gets married five times, but not much is said about her first three husbands. She describes them as “good, and rich, and olde” (Chaucer 243). This implies that they were all older than her. Marrying older men gives her an ego boost and the power to dominate, abuse, and do whatever she pleases with her husbands. After Alisoun’s third marriage or husband, her character is challenged. It becomes difficult to really examine whether or not she changes as a result of some of these challenges because she admits to being a liar at the beginning of the prologue and so if one takes what she is saying as the truth or at face value, she doesn’t necessarily change. Yes, she becomes vulnerable and soft, but her motives do not change. She stills wants all the power even in her fourth and fifth marriage. Her love of money is still very much alive and present. Her idea of men bowing down to women is still present as well. This is visible in the tale of the knight that she narrates. At the end of the tale, the knight finally learns his lesson and yields his sovereignty to his wife. Alisoun is implying that men should give women what they desire the most. So, in that context, the wife of bath does not change. The queen in the tale represents a very authoritative woman who has all the power to make decisions. This too, suggests that she places women on a higher pedestal while men are taken as “rapists” like the knight. She began setting herself up with her fifth husband while she was still married to her fourth, this shows that she still doesn’t care and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. Even when she meets her last two husbands and they challenge her, deep down she is still the promiscuous Alyson who loves money and attention. Those things do not change but are just suppressed for the time being.
On the other end of the spectrum, she does change. She changes because she is challenged in her fourth and fifth marriage. One challenge that she faces is her age. When she marries her fourth husband, she starts to reflect on her age. Her age becomes an obstacle in this marriage because she is not so young and dependent on the enthusiasm that she had when she was younger. She says age, “hath me bereft” (Chaucer 249). She is describing how her age has become more like poison to her life. She becomes vulnerable to a point where she describes how she did not like how her fourth husband cheated on her with a younger girl. What may be surprising is that she doesn’t revenge by cheating on him as well but makes him think that she does. The cheating makes her aware of some of her actions in the past because she is now experiencing some of those things she was doing to her late husbands. Her tone loosens up a bit and is not so controlled. She loses herself as she is reflecting on her story. This shows how all of this is affecting her and she is not as tough as she makes herself to be. The older she is getting, the more mature she is becoming.
When she meets her true love, instead of everything going great it takes a turn for the worst. She is twice his age. Jankyn is the name of her fifth husband and he uses some of the strategies that she previously used on her late husbands against her. He is violent with her. Alisoun really meets her match when it comes to him. Another change occurs in this marriage, she exchanges her body in a way for the land that her husband owns. This is something that could have never occurred in her first three husbands. There is a will to compromise. However, the mere fact that she still values those treasures over everything else shows that she still loves money. When Jankyn reads the book of evil wives, the wife of Bath is affected by it. Why would anyone be affected by something that is not about them? This book gives examples of wicked women who murder and do all kinds of evil doings. She finds herself in some of these women described in the book. This shows a change because she didn’t care about what anyone said before.
All of this is to say that in some ways Alisoun does change and in some ways, she doesn’t.
