THE WIFE OF BATH

							THE WIFE OF BATH

HER PROLOGUE AND TALE
              WIFE OF BATH
              Characteristics

•   Very Female      •   Wealthy
•   Boisterous       •   inherited
•   Hardy            •   Has her own trade
•   Large            •   Has no children
•   Gap-toothed
•   Amorous
         MARRIAGE GROUP
•   Wife of Bath
•   Merchant
•   Clerk
•   Franklin
    REASONS FOR MARRIAGE
•   Procreation
•   Companionship
•   To temper one’s lust
•   Peaceful enjoyment of one another’s
    company
• Wife of Bath breaks all of these
• There is much about marriage in the Wife
  of Bath’s tale but
• According to the ideas of the Church,
  everything about marriage in the WoB’s
  tale is wrong
          At Church Door
• Made marriage legal
• Many marriages at this time were common
  law marriages
• Not uncommon for men to desert common
  law wives
• Wedding at church door is legal and
  sacred
            FIRST THREE
• Old, rich and good
• Define “good” according to W of B’s idea
  of good
• Tricks she uses to get what she wants
  from old husbands