The Wife Of Bath Character Analysis Essay - 1149 Words

Witty and Wise In Geoffrey Chaucer’s â€Å"Tale of the Wife of Bath,† the Wife tells a story about a knight who rapes a maiden and is sentenced to death, unless he finds out what a woman desires most. He goes on a search, and hears many different opinions. Then, he comes across a hideous old woman who promises to tell him the answer as long as he does what she asks. He agrees, and tells the queen who grants him his freedom. The woman demands he marry her, which the knight desperately resists because of her physical ugliness. She tells him, â€Å"sir, you reprove me for age; but certainly†¦you nobles who are honorable say that one should honor an old person†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (237). She has pity on him, though, and gives him a choice: she will stay ugly but remain†¦show more content†¦During this time, too, as it still does when the Wife tells it, people judge by nobility rather than character. In the story, the old woman rebukes the knight thoroughly, saying t hings such as, â€Å"Find who is always the most virtuous, privately and publicly, and who always tries hardest to do what noble deeds he can, and consider him a nobleman† (233). In reading Wife’s story, one can almost see her listeners glancing askance at eachother, realizing that they are as guilty as the knight. Throughout time and space, one principle is true: a person can only be defined by his true character, evidenced by his actions. Irony is prevalent throughout this story, especially situational irony. For example, the queen and some other women, who should sympathize with the molested maiden, desire to give mercy to the knight. â€Å"This knight was condemned to die according to law, and should have lost his head†¦except that the Queen and various other ladies prayed to the king for grace so long that he granted him his life on the spot, and gave him to the queen, completely at her will†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (223). These women wanted a man who took advantage of a women to be saved, though they themselves could have been in her very situation. Irony is also found in the answer of what women desire most. â€Å"Generally women desire to have dominion over their husbands as well as their lovers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (229). The irony in this statement is clear, for the knight’s initial crime was using hisShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Wife Of Bath 1660 Words   |  7 PagesThe Canterbury Fails: An Analysis of Misogyny in the Wife of Bath’s Tale At first glance, you wouldn’t think that the Wife of Bath’s tale is anything other than feminist. She is, undeniably, the only non-religious female character in The Canterbury Tales and therefore is the only character who is approached from a point of view that was generally uncommon. 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