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Melissa Jean Hinton Professor Vanelis Rivera World Literature I 28 September 2013
Wife of Bath A Perspective on Misogynistic Stereotypes The Wife of Bath story can be looked at from two viewpoints: Is the Wife of Bath (Alison) a feminist or is she an anti-feminist? During the story Alison proclaims herself to be an expert on marriage, after all she was married 5 times. As she tells her tale of the virgin and King Arthurs knight, there are indications that lead you to believe that she is, herself, pigeonholing women. However, there are also instances where she represents an ideal feminist. Alison indicates that men are to be treated as so many men treated their women during this time period: In perfect joy; and Jesus Christ us send, Husbands meek and young and fresh in bed. And the grace to outlive those whom we wed; I pray that Jesus may shorten the lives Of those who wont be governed by their wives.

HINTON 2 And old and stingy niggards who wont spend, To them may God a pestilence soon send! (1263-1270) In the text above she is maintaining that men should be submissive to their wives. I believe the reason that she comes to this conclusion is because she was married so many times. Alisons 5th husband was an adulterer and very much abusive to her. As Alison goes on with her story about the virgin and the Knight, she does not seem to have a lot of sympathy for the chaste girl. She does not indicate that the violated maiden had suffered in any other way. There was no mention of tears, no running away, or shame placed upon the virgin. It seems Alison does not look at virginity as being an importance, she saw virgins as being weak. She says, Frailty I call it, unless he and she wished to lead all their lives in chastity.(99-100) This statement leads me to believe that she saw virgins as frail creatures. Her 5th husband was physically abusive to her, yet she says she, loved him best. (519) Maybe she was a masochist, because even when he was abusive and distant she wanted him more. But because of the way she ends the tale, I believe she still felt a lot of hostility towards men in general. Although I feel that Alison had no compassion for the woman for losing her virginity, I do believe that because of her past she felt as if the Knight should pay for his misdeeds. She was angry at the Knight for his attack, in general, on the maiden. This is evident when Alison places the Knight in front of the queen, who was obviously offended by his actions due to the fact that she makes him aware that he should be beheaded. Not only does Alison seem to be a masochist in a portion of the prologue, but she seems to be sadistic throughout the story. The Wife of Bath promotes misogyny as well as feminism. Perhaps the point to the story is to let the readers know that there are delicate balances to life. Human beings are imperfect and, Virginity thus is great perfection, and also continence spurred by devotion.(111) Alison

HINTON 3 recognizes that we are not Jesus and we cannot live faultlessly. However, when transgressions are made in the way that violates a man or woman, there must be repercussions to their crimes. We can still be sympathetic, as the queen was by giving the Knight twelve months and one day instead of beheading him on the spot. Perhaps the story is actually about forgiveness and less about sexism.

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Works Cited Puchner, Martin, and Homer. "The Wife of Bath." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. A. n New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. 385+. Print.