Feminist critique The Wife of Bath's Prologue simultaneously enumerates and critiques the long tradition of
misogyny in ancient and medieval literature. As Cooper notes, the Wife of Bath's "materials are part of the vast medieval stock of
antifeminism", giving
St. Jerome's
Adversus Jovinianum, which was "written to refute the proposition put forward by one Jovinianus that virginity and marriage were of equal worth,” as one of many examples. Ruth Evans, in
Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature (1995), postulates that the Wife of Bath embodies the ideology of "sexual economics" and suffers the "psychological effects of economic necessity, specifically on sexual mores." She refutes Jerome's proposition, concerning virginity and marriage, by noting that God would have condemned marriage and procreation if He had commanded virginity. Her decision to include God as a defence for her lustful appetites is significant, as it shows how well-read she is. By the same token, her interpretations of Scripture, such as
Paul on marriage, are tailored to suit her own purposes. While Chaucer's Wife of Bath is clearly familiar with the many ancient and medieval views on proper female behavior, she also boldly questions their validity. Her repeated acts of remarriage, for instance, are an example of how she mocks "clerical teaching concerning the remarriage of widows." Furthermore, she adds, "a rich widow was considered to be a match equal to, or more desirable than, a match with a virgin of property,"
Behaviour in marriage Both Carruthers and Cooper reflect on the way that Chaucer's Wife of Bath does not behave as society dictates, in any of her marriages. Through her nonconformity to the expectations of her role as a wife, the audience is shown what proper behaviour, in marriage, should be like. Carruthers' essay outlines the existence of deportment books, the purpose of which was to teach women how to be model wives. Carruthers notes how the Wife's behaviour in the first of her marriages "is almost everything the deportment-book writers say it should not be." Yet Carruthers does note that the Wife does do a decent job of upholding her husbands' public honour. Moreover, deportment books taught women that "the husband deserves control of the wife, because he controls the estate"; it is clear that the Wife is the one who controls certain aspects of her husband's behaviour in her various marriages. Cooper also notes that behaviour in marriage is a theme that emerges in the Wife of Bath's Prologue; neither the Wife nor her husbands conform to any conventional ideals of marriage. Cooper observes that the Wife's fifth husband, in particular, "cannot be taken as any principle of correct Christian marriage". He, too, fails to exhibit behaviour conventionally expected within a marriage. This can, perhaps, be attributed to his young age and lack of experience in relationships, as he does change at the end, as does the Wife of Bath. Thus, through both the Wife's and her fifth and favorite husband's failure to conform to expected behaviour in marriage, the poem exposes the complexity of the institution of marriage and of relationships, more broadly.
Female sovereignty As Cooper argues, the tension between experience and textual authority is central to the Prologue. The Wife argues for the relevance of her own marital experience. For instance, she notes that: Unnethe myghte they the statut holde
"unnethe" = not easily In which that they were bounden unto me.
"woot" = know Ye woot wel what I meene of this, pardee!
"pardee" = "by God", cf. French "par dieu" As help me God, I laughe whan I thynke How pitously a-nyght I made hem swynke! (III.204–08)
"hem" = them;
"swynke" = work The Wife of Bath's first three husbands are depicted as subservient men who cater to her sexual appetites. Her characterisation as domineering is particularly evident in the following passage: Of tribulacion in mariage, Of which I am expert in al myn age This is to seyn, myself have been the whippe. (III.179–81) The image of the whip underlines her dominant role as the partnership; she tells everyone that she is the one in charge in her household, especially in the bedroom, where she appears to have an insatiable thirst for sex; the result is a satirical, lascivious depiction of a woman, but also of feudal power arrangements. However, the end of both the Prologue and the Tale make evident that it is not dominance that she wishes to gain, in her relation with her husband, but a kind of equality. In the Prologue, she says: "God help me so, I was to him as kinde/ As any wyf from Denmark unto Inde,/ And also trewe, and so was he to me." In her Tale, the old woman tells her husband: "I prey to God that I mot sterven wood,/ But I to yow be also good and trewe/ As evere was wyf, sin that the world was newe." In both cases, the Wife says so to the husband, after she has been given "sovereyntee.” She is handed over the control of all the property, along with the control of her husband's tongue. The old woman in the Wife of Bath's Tale is also given the freedom to choose which role he wishes her to play in the marriage.
Economics of love In her essay "The Wife of Bath and the Painting of Lions," Carruthers describes the relationship that existed between love and economics for both medieval men and women. Carruthers notes that it is the independence that the Wife's wealth provides for her that allows her to love freely. This implies that autonomy is an important component in genuine love, and since autonomy can only be achieved through wealth, wealth, then, becomes the greatest component for true love. Love can, in essence, be bought: Chaucer makes reference to this notion, when he has the Wife tell one of her husbands: Is it for ye wolde have my queynte allone?
"queynte" = a nice thing, cf. Latin quoniam,
with obvious connotation of "cunt" Wy, taak it al! Lo, have it every deel!
"deel" = "part"; plus, the implication of transaction Peter! I shrewe yow, but ye love it weel; ''"Peter" =
St. Peter; "shrewe" = curse; hence: "I curse you if you don't love it well."'' For if I wolde selle my bele chose,
"belle chose": another suggestion of female genitalia (her "lovely thing") I koude walke as fressh as is a rose; But I wol kepe it for youre owene tooth. (III.444–49)
"tooth" = taste, pleasure The Wife appears to make reference to prostitution, whereby "love" in the form of sex is a "deal," bought and sold. The character's use of words, such as "dette (debt)" and "paiement (payment)" also portray love in economic terms, as did the medieval Church: sex was the debt women owed to the men that they married. Hence, while the point that Carruthers makes is that money is necessary for women to achieve sovereignty in marriage, a look at the text reveals that love is, among other things, an economic concept. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that her fifth husband gives up wealth, in return for love, honour, and respect. The Wife of Bath does take men seriously and wants them for more than just sexual pleasure and money. When the Wife of Bath states, "but well I know, surely, God expressly instructed us to increase and multiply. I can well understand that noble text" Chaucer's Wife chose to interpret the meaning of the statement by clarifying that she has no interest in childbearing, as a means of showing fruitfulness, but the progression of her financial stability is her ideal way of proving success.
Sex and Lollardy While sexuality is a dominant theme in The Wife of Bath's Prologue, it is less obvious that her sexual behaviour can be associated with
Lollardy. Critics such as Helen Cooper and
Carolyn Dinshaw point to the link between sex and Lollardy. Both describe the Wife's knowledge and use of Scripture, in her justification of her sexual behaviour. When she states that "God bad us for to wexe and multiplye", she appears to suggest that there is nothing wrong with sexual lust, because God wants humans to procreate. The Wife's "emphatic determination to recuperate sexual activity, within a Christian context, and on the authority of the Bible [on a number of occasions throughout the text] echoes one of the points made in the Lollard
Twelve Conclusions of 1395". The very fact that she remarries, after the death of her first husband, could be viewed as Chaucer's characterisation of the Wife as a supporter of Lollardy, if not necessarily a Lollard, herself, since Lollards advocated the remarriage of widows. Author Alistair Minnis makes the assertion that the Wife of Bath is not a Lollard, at all, but was educated by her late husband, Jankyn, an Oxford-educated clerk, who translated and read aloud anti-feminist texts. Jankyn gave her knowledge far beyond what was available to women of her status, which explains how she can hold her own, when justifying her sexual behavior to the Canterbury group. Further, Minnis explains that "being caught in possession of a woman's body, so to speak, was an offense, in itself, carrying the penalty of a life-sentence", By questioning universal assumptions of male dominance, making demands in her own right, conducting negotiations within her marriages, and disregarding conventional feminine ideals, Chaucer's Wife of Bath was ahead of her time.
The Queen's Law The Wife of Bath's Tale reverses the medieval roles of men and women (especially regarding legal power), and it also suggests a theme of feminist coalition-building. Appointed as sovereign and judge over the convicted knight, the Queen holds a type of power given to men in the world outside the tale. She has power, as judge over the knight's life. Author Emma Lipton writes that the Queen uses this power to move from a liberal court to an educational court. In this sense, the court is moving beyond punishment for the offense, and it, now, puts a meaning behind the offense, tying it to consequences. In the tale, the Queen is a figurehead for a feminist movement, within a society that looks much like the misogynistic world in which the Canterbury Tales are told. which the Queen does not allow. The knight's lack of agency, in this scene, demonstrates a role reversal, according to Carissa Harris, in juxtaposition to women's lack of agency in situations of rape. ==Adaptations==