Page 107 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

British Poetry

Notes 8. What type of tale does the wife tell?
9. For what crime is the young knight being punished?
10. Why is it fitting that this tale should be told by the wife of bath?
When we notice too that the Wife (whose name is Alison) has as her only confidant another woman
called Alison, there is an unusual sense that she might be talking only to herself. Add to that her
almost uninterrupted monologue of tale and prologue – and the almost-uninterrupted monologues
of Jankin (reading from the book of wives) and the lothly lady’s lengthy monologue on poverty and
gentilesse – and we see that, in fact, the voice of the Wife does indeed take the “maistrie” in the tale
itself. It entirely dominates the tale.
The Wife, then, is a far more complicated figure than simply a proto-feminist. She asks the key
question herself: “Who peynted the leon, tel me who?”, referring to the old myth that, a lion, seeing
the picture of a man triumphing over a lion, asked the rhetorical question which pointed out that
the portrayal was biased as it had been painted by a man, not a lion. If the Wife’s tale is a depiction
of a woman triumphing over a man (and even that is not easy to decide) can it be similarly dismissed?
Perhaps, but of course, for all the Wife decries the clerical tradition and the clerks who leave out the
good deeds of woman, she herself as a text is another example of a lecherous, lying, manipulative
woman. She falls into the anti-feminist tradition she represents. This is even before you mention
that the Wife is being written, at the very least ventriloquised, by Geoffrey Chaucer, a clerk and a
man. Is this Chaucer’s opinion of proto-feminism and a disavowal of the anti-feminist tradition? Or
is Chaucer endorsing the anti-feminist tradition by giving it a mouthpiece which, in arguing against
it, demonstrates all of its stereotypical arguments as fact?
Who painted the lion? Whose voice is the Wife’s? Is she worthy of–as she does–speaking for women
everywhere?
These are all huge, open, fascinating questions that demonstrate why the tale itself is so complex,
and interesting to interpret. The key fact not to forget is that you can’t have a Wife without a Husband.
Whether married to Chaucer, whether Chaucer in drag, or whether a feminist persona all of her
own, it’s important to view the apparently proto-feminist Wife of Bath from a point of view which
understands her strong links to the men in her fictional–and literary–lives.

11.3 Summary

• “Host”, the Man of Law, replies, “To breke forward is nat myn entente”, and reiterating that
he does not break agreements, agrees to tell the tale.
• The Prologue begins by lamenting the condition of poverty; it makes a person steal, beg or
borrow for money, it makes a person blame Christ.
• The warden of a nearby castle found Constance and gave her shelter, but she refused to re-
veal her identity.
• The Wife of Bath’s Tale tells a story from a distant time, when King Arthur ruled the nation
and when elves used to run around impregnating women.
• The knight sighed sorely, and thought, but finally told his wife to choose herself whichever
option would bring most honor to the two of them.

11.4 Keywords
Chaste : Abstaining from extramarital.
Ramble : Walk for pleasure in the countryside.
Vanishing : Disappear suddenly and completely.
Thrift : The quality of being careful and not wasteful with money and other resources.
Fist : A person’s hand when the fingers are bent in towards the palm and held there tightly.

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