The Wife of Bath defies her culture with her practices and beliefs. At a time when society expects women to be subservient and "pure" (i.e. virgins), she defies societal norms. For example, she marries five different men despite the fact that her society expects widows to remain single and mourning for the rest of their lives. In addition, she does not attempt to hide the fact that she enjoys sex with her husbands and uses it to gain power from them; in fact, she brazenly wears the same red stockings as prostitutes. The Wife of Bath also centers her tale on the female desire for sovereignty, a right that women of the time should not desire. Her struggle is still relevant today. Fathers force young women in parts of Africa and the Middle East
