Character Analysis Of The Wife Of Bath In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

For years the tale of The Wife of Bath in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, has been considered one of the most famous of all tales. The Wife of Bath is a desirous women, who desires the simple things in life and seems to stand out more than any other character on the pilgrimage. However, it is difficult to distinguish the discrepancies between what she acknowledges and how she actually behaves. The character traits she displays to the fellow pilgrimage seem conflicting to whom she actually is. I will expose these contradictions by examining her prologue and tale. Also demonstrating that practically every word that she says is contradictory from her true nature and character. As the pilgrimage begins, in the General Prologue, Chaucer describes The Wife of Bath as a character, who desires to be equal among men and provokes a shocking response. She is a strong female who seems to wear her Sunday best, ten pounds of cloth, woven by her, underneath her hat. He continues to describe her cloths, legs, feet, hips and the gap between her teeth. She thinks highly of herself and her work as a …show more content…
As she speaks about her husbands, it seems she only wants to love and be loved by them. Her suggesting to want to control men, can be seen perhaps as a cry for help. Her methods however, enhances the drama of her tale, thus making her contradictions more interesting and dramatically. She seem to continue to imply her desire to control the minds of men, their money and sexual nature; through her storytelling as well in relationship to the knight and his queen. For insists, before the knight has the opportunity to figure out the answer to the old hag’s request, she has placed herself within the tale. After the old hag, the lady in the tale encounters her soul mate and he submits to her, and fall in love. Both the knight and his queen live as to say happily ever