The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale

The prologue and tale from the Wife of Bath was lengthy yet intriguing. I believe some of Alisoun’s tale could have been shortened but all the details provided did help the reader understand the story better. Throughout the prologue you begin to wonder if the Wife of Bath is being completely truthful. She mentions she is lying several times throughout her prologue as she gets worked up and more into her tale. She becomes emotional when revealing her true feelings and intentions between her 5 marriages. It was certainly odd that she had been married 5 times yet she defends herself in the starting. The way she describes what women as wives truly desire in marriage and in relationships ties into her tale because the knight must go around searching for what women truly desire. I thought it was very strange and unusual that in the tale, when the Knight rapes a young maiden the King’s wife gives him a second chance instead of following her husband’s idea of death. The idea of the Knight trading himself and his own will for the answer the Queen is searching for in order to save his own life is one that you may find in several medieval romance tale and lais. I believe Alisoun telling this tale and giving the “old hag” power over the knight signify her own want for power over her husbands. Overall the prologue and the tale emphasizes women’s rights and needs in the medieval romance era as well as the stereotype of women as sinners in that period.