In wifhode I wol use mine instrument
As frely as my makere hath it sent....
Mine housbonde shal it have both eve and
morwe,
Whan that him list com forth and paye his
dette.
(ll. 149–150, 152–153)
The Wife pledges to satisfy her husband completely, as
long as he returns her regard, citing the “marital debt”
(reciprocal sexual expectations) as her legal right.
At this point, the Pardoner, another pilgrim, inter-
rupts the Wife’s discourse. Claiming he is about to
marry, he beseeches the Wife to share her vast knowl-
edge, which she agrees to do. The prologue then con-
tinues with the story of her marriages.
Of her husbands, the Wife claims, “three of hem
were goode and two were badde” (l. 196). Her fi rst
three husbands were older than she, kept her sexually
satisfi ed, and left her their property when they died.
She spends 144 lines paraphrasing speeches she gave
her husbands, couched as advice to wives, all of which
are based on traditional medieval antifeminist rhetoric.
These culminate with her declaration, “We [wives] love
no man that taketh kep or charge / wher that we goon
.. .” (ll. 321–322). The Wife then continues, detailing
how she controlled her husbands rhetorically, through
accusations, drunken fl attery, and deception—and of
course through sex.
The Wife then turns to her two bad husbands. Her
fourth kept a mistress and tried to stop her from drink-
ing wine, neither of which pleased her. She repaid him
by fl irting outrageously with other men. The fi fth hus-
band she claims to have loved best, even though his
love was “daungerous to me,” (l. 514). In Middle Eng-
lish, daungerous meant both “standoffi sh” and, literally,
“dangerous.” Both meanings apply here. Jankyn was
younger than she (20 to her 40) and poor. He was also
handsome, and the Wife desired him sexually. After
their marriage, however, Jankyn turned mean. He read
to her each night from a book of “wicked wives.” The
Wife paraphrases the contents of this book, which
include a list of selfi sh and unfaithful women through-
out history. It is during this recitation that she asks her
famous question: “Who peyntede the leon, tel me
who?” (l. 692), referencing one of Aesop’s FABLEs in
which a man paints a picture of a hunter killing a lion,
whereupon a lion remarks that if he had painted the
scene, he would have shown the lion as victorious.
Similarly, the Wife dismisses Jankyn’s antifeminist/
antimarriage rhetoric by implying that the stories
would be much different if women had told them.
Jankyn’s book so infuriated the Wife that she punched
him, grabbed the book, and burned it. He retaliated by
hitting her in the head (the cause of her deafness). She
collapsed. Jankyn, fearing she was dead, ran over and
apologized. Eventually, the Wife says, the two came to
some accord, and lived harmoniously until Jankyn
died.
At this point, the Friar breaks in, declaring the pro-
logue too long, to which the Summoner responds by
cursing him. The Host ends the argument but urges
the Wife to tell her tale.
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” echoes the ARTHURIAN LIT-
ERATURE tradition. It opens in the “dayes of King
Arthour” (l. 857), with a knight riding through the for-
est. Spotting a beautiful young maiden, the knight is
seized by lust and rapes her. When he is brought before
the court, the queen begs the king for permission to
decide his fate. This request is granted, and she ren-
ders his sentence: “I graunte thee lif if thou kanst tellen
me / what thing is it that wommen moost desiren” (ll.
904–905).
Given a year and a day to complete his quest, the
knight sets out. His quest is unsuccessful. Just as he
begins his return to the court, however, he encounters
a loathly old woman. She notices his sadness and offers
to help, on the condition that he promises to grant an
unspecifi ed request. The bargain is struck, and the
knight returns to court.
Appearing before the queen, the knight proclaims
the answer to her question: “Wommen desiren to have
sovereynetee / as well over hir housbond as hir love, /
and for to been in maistrie hym above” (ll. 1039–1040).
None of the women disputes this answer, so the knight
is free to go. The old woman then approaches the
knight, reminding him of his promise and demanding
that he marry her. Repulsed, the knight begs her to
“taak all my good and lat my body go” (l. 1061), but
she refuses, and they wed.468 “WIFE OF BATH’S PROLOGUE AND TALE, THE”