The Five Husbands In The Wife Of Bath's Tale

After having five husbands, the Wife of Bath establishes herself as an expert on marriage. She wholeheartedly indulges herself in God’s commandment to “increase and multiply” (l. 28). The Wife of Bath, although receiving criticism for her lusty life, always defends her life choices. First, she defends her lifestyle by referring to reputable men in the Old Testament who had more than one wife. Second, she considers sexual organs to satisfy both practical and pleasurable uses in life. The Wife then declares that virginity should be left to the perfect; the sinners should be able to use their gifts. The Wife of Bath takes great pleasure in controlling the men in her life through her sexual power. Her first three husbands were rich, old, and submissive. Her fourth husband was a bad husband and died soon after they were married. She meets her fifth husband at her fourth husband’s funeral and marries him by the end of the month. He loves to read aloud and often reads about unfaithful women. This infuriates the Wife so much that she rips pages out of the book her husband is reading out of. In a rage, her fifth husband throws the book at her. It hits her ear, leaving her partially deaf. Since her fifth husband is now dead, she is possibly looking for a sixth on the pilgrimage. The Wife of

While riding in from the river, a lusty knight spies a young maiden alone in a field of corn and rides over to her. Despite the maiden’s struggle, the knight “straightway by force… took her maidenhead” (l. 32). By course of law, the knight should be beheaded for his crime. Instead of following common law, however, the king decides to let the queen decide the knight’s fate. The queen resolves to grant the knight his life if he can return in a year and answer what women want most in life. Although grieved and sorrowful, the knight swallows his pride and accepts the queen’s offer. He then hastily embarks upon his