The Wife of Bath’s Tale
from The Canterbury Tales
By Geoffrey Chaucer
Pages 77-88
Read Background on page 77
Chaucer’s original plan was for each pilgrim to tell two stories on the way to
Canterbury and two on the way back, resulting in 120 tales. He did not
complete this ambitious plan, writing only 24 tales.
This unfinished work shaped the direction of English literature to come.
Previously, many characters in literature had been “types,” representing ideals.
Chaucer creates individuals who illustrate the best and worst of humanity. His
portraits of various members of medieval society are vivid and memorable.
He develops these characters through descriptive details, their interactions
with each other, and the tales they tell. Some of these tales are familiar to the
medieval audience; however, his matching of teller and tale, sometimes
ironically, gives these old stories new meaning. This pairing allows him to
achieve deeper characterization through what the story says about the pilgrim
who tells it.
Focus on Chaucer’s structure and the Wife of Bath’s role as narrator as you
read this tale. Note the way Chaucer uses irony to bring out important ideas.
Chaucer is often referred to as the “father of English literature.” His poetic
form in The Canterbury Tales became the basis for the heroic couplet, used
extensively by later poets. In addition to his use of the vernacular, he also
showed poets and writers that humor had a place in literature and could be a
valuable tool in conveying insights about society and the human condition.
Read page 78
The prologue here is part of the frame story in which the pilgrims
converse with each other between tales. Their interactions reveal
their relationships with one another, ideas about medieval society,
and important aspects of their character. The Wife of Bath has just
finished giving an introduction to the tale she is about to tell.
1. Identify lines from the passage that indicate the relationship
between the Wife of Bath and the Friar.
The Friar and the Summoner, a church official who brings people
accused of violating church law to ecclesiastical court, also
exchange words.
2. Describe the tone of the conversation between the Friar and
the Summoner.
3. How do these exchanges affect the portrayals of the pilgrims?
Share your answer with your shoulder partner. (2 min.)
Read page 79
The Wife of Bath is the narrator of the tale. Readers can make
inferences about her traits based on her style of storytelling.
4. Explain what aspects of the Wife’s narrative style appear in the
first part of the tale.
5. What do these elements of her style suggest about her
character?
In the prologue to the entire narrative, the Wife of Bath is
described as knowing “the remedies for love’s mischances,/An art
in which she knew the oldest dances.” Consider what the Queen
demands of the knight in the Wife’s tale.
6. What does line 79 suggest about the Wife’s tale?
7. What idea about the medieval church is brought out by the
Wife’s accusation that some friars take women’s virtue?
Share your answer with your shoulder partner. (2 min.)
Read page 80
Readers can make inferences about the Wife’s character from the
kinds of details she includes in her tale.
8. Summarize the knight’s experience as he travels the land asking
people what women want most. What does this part of the
tale tell you about the Wife of Bath herself?
During the Middle Ages, women, other than those of Aristocratic
class, had little education.
9. Explain how you know the Wife is educated.
10. Why do you think Chaucer gave her this trait?
Share your answer with your shoulder partner. (2 min.)
Read page 81
The Wife’s direct comments also provide insight into her character.
11. Do the Wife’s traits revealed in this passage make her a likeable
character? Why or why not?
In literature, the forest often represents a place untouched by
civilization, the home of spirits or other untamed forces of nature.
12. What would you predict about the Wife’s tale based on the
scene described in lines 163-175?
Share your answer with your shoulder partner. (2 min.)
Read page 82 and 83
The Wife’s of Bath has had five husbands. In the General Prologue,
her description indicates that although she is no longer young, she
still considers herself to be marriage material.
13. Re-read lines 176-178: Explain how these lines, might be
interpreted in reference to the Wife herself?
Remember foreshadowing is a literary device that gives clues to
what might happen later in the plot.
14. Re-read lines 179-196: What is the effect of this foreshadowing
on the readers?
Chaucer uses the individual tales to convey ideas about life and the
human condition
15. Re-read lines 211-216: What universal idea does the knights
answer relate to?
Share your answer with your shoulder partner. (2 min.)
The answer to the queen’s question is that women want to have control
over their husbands and lovers.
16. Why is this answer, suggesting that women should have sovereignty
over certain men, particularly significant in the context of the Middle
Ages?
17. Describe the contrast between the knight’s attitude toward the old
woman earlier in the tale (lines 179-197) and his attitude now (lines
179-197). What does the knight’s behavior in this passage reveal
about his character?
Share your answer with your shoulder partner. (2 min.)
READ pages 84-85
Notice that in lines 247-256, the wife speaks directly to the other pilgrims
18. Explain the purpose of this digression from her tale?
Note: The Wife of Bath is not a member of the noble class but rather belongs to the
rising middle class. She lives in a town and is renowned for her weaving of cloth.
19. Describe the Wife’s attitude toward aristocrats as revealed through what the old
woman says in lines 257-271.
20. Explain the irony of the knight’s calling the old woman “lowbred” in context of this passage.
21. Re-read lines 287-298: What is the definition of true nobility,
according to the old woman?
22. How does this idea relate back to the knight’s original behavior?
The old woman says that while parents can hand down their
material possessions to their children, they cannot hand down the
virtue that they have earned from their own behavior.
23.How does a person cultivate gentility if a parent cannot
bequeath it?
Share your answer with your shoulder partner. (2 min.)
Read pages 86-87
In reading a work of literature, you must often combine the details in
the text with your own knowledge to make logical decisions.
24. Explain the old woman’s function in the tale based on her speech to
the knight.
25. Why does Chaucer make her speech so long?
26. Why is the narrator’s focus on the old woman rather than the knight
in this part of the tale?
The turning point of the story or narrative poem is the moment of
highest tension after which the conflict is resolved or the change in a
character can be seen.
27. Why is this the turning point of this tale?
28. What can be inferred about the knight from what he says in these
lines?
29. Why does the poet choose to use rebuke rather than scold?
Share your answer with your shoulder partner. (2 min.)
Read page 88
30. Explain what message is implied by the old woman’s
transformation into a young, beautiful woman.
31. Discuss what the last stanza of the poem reveals about the Wife
of Bath. What details support these conclusions?
32. Based on your impression of the Wife of Bath, do you think the
tale is well-suited to her personality?
Share your answer with your shoulder partner. (2 min.)