Student 1

Student
Mrs. Swarthout
English 2322 - Period 3
30 September 2013
Feminine Desire for Power
In the "Wife of Bath's Tale" and "Prologue," Geoffrey Chaucer projected his
views towards feminism through the wife, and her views and attitude. The wife, whose
name is Alison, is a strong-willed and dominant woman who gets what she wants, when
she wants it with whatever means necessary. In most cases, Alison would be considered a
feminist for these reasons; however, this is not the definition of a feminist. A feminist
celebrates what it means to be a woman. If anything, the Wife of Bath could easily be
called a sexist. She constantly emphasizes the negative connotations associated with
women throughout the ages, and believes that all women are supposed to be that
way. The Wife of Bath describes women as greedy, controlling, and dishonest creatures.
Although it seems contradictory, she has no respect for her body or the rights of women
and is an insult to true feminists everywhere.
Most readers would claim that the Wife of Bath's so-called "feminism" is
demonstrated in the incident where she tears pages out of her husband's extremely sexist
books. The husband proceeds to hit her in the head causing her to fall to the floor in pain.
The wife did not think that her husband's sexist stories that were read to her were false. In
fact, the stories sounded a lot like something Alison, herself, would say. She lashes out
because she cannot face her flaws. Alison actually states that women can have "no man
repreve us of oure vyce, / But seye that we be wyse and not at all silly," (Chaucer 303).

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The fact that she gets angry when she is presented with the very things she practices
daily, not being able to look at herself truthfully, is not feminism. Her actions stem from
her strong greed and needing to be in control of everything. This particular husband, her
fifth one, was the only husband she could not control. The guilt he felt after hitting her
put her in a perfect bargaining position. Alison, while lying on the floor, puts on a
dramatic act of self-pity to make her husband feel a lot worse, and later describes that "he
yaf me al the brydel in myn hond" (300).
The Wife of Bath's greedy need for complete control over men reflects in most of
her actions. She seems quite proud of this and constantly describes women as cruel
creatures that bring great sorrow to men. When she was talking about her first three
husbands, she claims that she "governed hem so wel after my lawe" and "chidde hem
spitously" (Chaucer 287). She has no respect for her husbands' feelings by making their
lives a living hell. Alison only cares for what benefits her husbands give her and says
"what sholde I taken keep hem for to please, / But it were for my profit and myn ese,"
(287). The moral in her story is that all women want to wear the pants in a relationship,
and it is in the man's best interest to let them do so. Alison is not a woman to be admired
and, worst of all, she insists that all women are just like her.
Another important point the Wife of Bath emphasizes throughout her long speech
is the dishonesty and untrustworthiness of women. As she starts talking, she states that
"for half so boldely can ther no man / Swere and lyen as a womman can" (Chaucer 287).
She then describes the dishonesty she practiced with her first three husbands and the best
way to lie to men. Alison reflects on "the peyne i dide hem and the wo, / ful giltelees"
(291). She gives women a bad name and says things a "feminist" would never even think

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of when she says, "for al swich wit is yeven us in our birth; / Deceite, weeping, spinning
God has given / To wommen kindely whyl they may live" (291). By saying that "a man is
more resonable / Than a womman is," shows that the Wife of bath is clearly really far
from a feminist.
Alison also has little respect for her body or the bodies of her fellow women. She
sees her body as something that belongs to everyone, "al were he short, or tall, or blackhaired, or blond; / I took no kepe, so that he lyked me" (Chaucer 296). She seeks power
over men's bodies, but she has no power over her own. In the beginning of her speech,
she states, "the dart is set up for virginitee; / Cacche who so may, who renneth best lat
see" (284). Alison, not once, talks about her personality; her entire being revolves around
her body and sex. A woman like her in this day and age would be thought of as having
low self-esteem, and trying to raise it through failing to resist every man she meets. The
Wife of Bath actually says, "I wol bistowe the flour of al myn age / In the actes and in
fruit of marriage" which implies that she is not as strong as she makes herself seem since
her whole life revolves around and depends on men (285). Also, Alison's fifth husband
beats her but instead of leaving him, she loves him more for it. When she describes the
incident, she states, "thogh he hadde me bet on every bone, / He coude winne agayn my
love anoon" (294). Feminists, who are against battery, would be disgusted by Alison's
comments about this situation.
The Wife of Bath is in no way, shape, or form a feminist. Even when she's saying
or doing something that may seem feministic, she had greedy intentions behind it.
Feminists celebrate the intuitiveness that women have, but Alison cannot even face
herself. She emphasizes the negative stereotypes associated with women such as

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dishonesty, nagging, cruelty, greed, and control, which puts her in the same category as a
sexist. Also, she does not seem to see anything wrong with being battered and beaten. To
call the Wife of Bath a feminist would be such a shame and a big insult to women
everywhere.

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Works Cited
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. The Norton Anthology: English Literature.
Sixth Edition, vol. 1. Ed. Abrams, M.H. Norton & Company: New York, 1993.