Throughout history genders have had defined roles where men are strong and are to make decisions, In the Wife of Bath’s tale, Chaucer switches those roles as a way to challenge those who believe in them. In the story, there is a knight who is forced to marry someone he does not want to, and he does not get to make his own decisions in that marriage. This ultimately switches the gender roles forcing the reader to sympathise with the women of the society. In the beginning of the story, the knight is portrayed as a strong and powerful character (just as any man would be at the time), but abuses his power when he rapes a weak and vulnerable girl (just as any woman would be at the time). The knight is punished by the queen to find the answer
