The Wife of Bath Character analysis

When referring to Chaucers character, the Wife of Bath, many would argue that she is, on the one hand, a
stock character and also a symbol of anti-feminism and, on the other hand, she is considered to be a realistic character,
Chaucer appearing to be rather a feminist author, than an anti-feminist one.
Taking these facts into account, we should pay attention, firstly, on the titles significance. Informing the
readers about her personal experiences I have had five husbands at the church-door emphasizes the first part of
the title, the second part translating the cloth-making town of Bath, where she was from, but also portraying a talented
seamstress. This seamstress appears to be old and not very beautiful: was deaf in either ear; bold was her face . She
was also gap toothed, this fact underlining that she was on the disreputable side of things: gap toothed was she; her
buttocks large. The gap between her teeth is ironically integrated in the text by Chaucer. During those times, the gap
between the teeth represented sensuality, the woman having it being more interested in love rather than homemaking.
The one thing that was obvious is that she cared very much about her appearance. Besides being old, she
always had expensive clothes: shoes were soft and new; her hose were of the choicest scarlet red. Her clothes and
accessories also reveal her wealthy position. Wearing the best materials, best shoes, the most expensive scarlet red
stockings, portray her respectable position in society.
One can argue that the Wife of Bath is described in such an explicit way in order to determine a shocking
response. Portraying her in this way, starting from her way of dressing, her physical characteristics or her personal
experiences, makes the reader wonder if she fits the rules of womanly behavior imposed by the religious authorities.
In the Prologue, we can observe the fact that Chaucer offers the Wife subjectivity. Therefore, she has the
opportunity to reflect, to contemplate on her past from three perspectives: first being a wife, then a widow, but also a
woman from those times. By doing this, the author also reveals her beliefs and feelings that are in contradiction with
the common attitudes from that society.
The Wife criticized the society through her experiences as a wife, as a cloth maker, as a traveler. As a wife, she
came to the conclusion that marriage is built on money and the one who has control on them, has total control on
everything that concerns that family. She defends her sins, using evidences from different domains. For example, she
does not agree with those who say that a person must marry only once in a lifetime, giving as an evidence Abraham
and Jacobs experiences, who had been married more than only once: Well I know Abraham was a holy man and
Jacob as well, as far as I know, and each of them had more than two wives.
The Wife of Bath also has a sensual nature, due to her many relationships outside her marriages and due to the
fact that she had been married five times. Not only these facts make her sensual, but also her statement referring to
herself as being a knower of all the cures of love. Beyond her sensuality, she appears as a woman with a high self-
respect: in all the parish not a dame daredAs to be quite put out of charity. Her experiences of travelling on
pilgrimages could classify her as a religious character, but through her statements, like: in company, I like to laugh
and chat, we could observe that these pilgrimages are, in fact, a way of relaxing, rather than praying.
The Wife is preoccupied with sex, which could be considered a tool of manipulation used on her husbands, in
order to get their lands and to control their money. She states in this sense: May God help me, I laugh when I think
how pitifully I made them work at night! And, by my faith, I found it useless. I did not need to make an effort or pay
them any respect to win their love. They loved me so well, by God above, that I set no value on their love. A wise
woman will always attempt to win love where she has none; but since I had them wholly in my hand and had all their
land, why should I bother to please them, unless it were for my profit and pleasure? I ruled them so, by my faith, that
many nights they sang alas! This quote shows us a selfish, greedy, shameless woman.
Her personal life also demonstrates a lack of rationality. This is evident when she speaks about her husband
Jankyn. She loved him the most because he was the worst to her: May God never allow his soul to enter hell! And yet
he was the most villainous to me, as I can still feel my ribs all in a row, and ever shall to my ending day. But he was so
fresh and merry, and could sweet-talk so well that, even if he had beaten me on every bone, he could soon win my
beautiful thing again. I believe I loved him best, because he was sparing in his love. Therefore, the Wife seem to want
what she cannot have in this case, her husbands devotion and she does not care for what is easy to obtain love.
On several fragments, it appears the symbol of bread, the Wife compares women with loaves of bread. On the
one hand, she compares virgins with wheat bread and wives with barley bread. In this way, she wants to underline that
virgins, like white bread, may be preferred to barley bread, but also suggesting that the last one is equally nutritious: I
will not envy any virginity. Let virgins be called bread of purified wheat-seed, and let us wives be called barley-bread;
and yet, as Mark can tell, our Lord Jesus refreshed many people with barley-bread.
In what concerns imagery, it is used to provide a certain image to readers, using the five senses when
describing a scene. The sense of touch is prefigured in the fight between Jankyn and the Wife of Bath, when she
became deaf in one ear: I also struck him on the cheek with my fist so that he fell down backward into our fire.
And he started up like a mad lion, and struck me on the head with his fist so that I lay as dead on the floor. The sense
of sight could be observed in the scene when the Knight, riding back home in despair, without finding a saving answer
to his question, he sees some women dancing, image that eventually seemed to be an ugly hag. Language along
imagery gives the tale a realistic view and transfers the reader in the backgrounds of those times.

Chaucer created an entertaining character, the Wife of Bath being, in fact, a valuable tool to emphasize the
thoughts, experiences and feelings of women from those times. Even though he had no feminist vocabulary, he
managed to develop purely feminist ideas. By creating such a character, he actually managed to attract an audience to
which he delivered the message that women are as capable as men, that they are able to think, that they deserve to be
treated equally to men, that they ought to be respected. The Wife of Bath follows her path and reflects on womens
status in society. She has her own interpretation on male-written texts. She tries to show that women are being
oppressed by gaining authority over her husbands. The Wife of Bath even contradicts the idea that women are weak,
because she succeeds in protecting herself both physically and mentally.