Theme of Feminism in The Wife of Bath's Tale Essay Example

In the “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” the Wife reveals herself as a feminist through the characterization of the fairy. Although they are portrayed as polar opposites in their introductions, they both demonstrate and promote power in women. The Wife knows the power she holds above her community because “in all the parish not a dame dared stir towards the altar steps in front of her,” out of respect and fear of being reprimanded (Chaucer 122:459-460). Being a wealthy, romance-obsessed woman, the Wife knows a lot about women and what they want, which is what the fairy claims to know as well. The fairy is described as an ugly, low-bred woman who redeems herself from the treacherous Knight’s insults in the tale by sticking up for herself and women like her. The woman reveals to the Knight that a woman’s ultimate desire is power and control; therefore, demonstrating feminism because she is supporting women to have power, rather than being oppressed by men. Despite some people characterizing the Wife as an anti-feminist because of her “[claim] to be talking about marital power, in terms of sexuality and misogyny, but her language [being] more concerned with financial power, in terms of money and land,” she truly reveals herself as a feminist (Murphy 211). This is because she must address how men obtained marital power by being the breadwinner and providing financial stability for the family when at the time women were unable to work. By comparing the ability to provide in both a male and female perspective, the Wife is conveying the unfair conditions of society and how women are restricted from doing things men can do. The Wife illustrates her feminism through the characterization of the fairy wife in her tale; therefore, suggesting that she is a bold, intelligent individual throughout her society. 

On the contrary to being a feminist, the Wife of Bath is characterized as an egotistical woman through the allusions in her tale relating to a womens’ habits contingent on her experiences. The narrator of the prologue describes the Wife as promiscuous and flirtatious because “She’d had five husbands, all at the church door, apart from other company in youth,” displaying that she had slept around as a young woman before being in five faithful marriages (Chaucer 122:

470-471). The dichotomy of sleeping around and being in a faithful marriage highlights how the Wife changed over the course of time, which foreshadows how the Knight will change in her tale. The Wife introduces her egotism in her allusion to Midas “[growing] a splendid pair of ass’s ears,” which demonstrates how women are unable to keep secrets (Chaucer 174:130-131). This allusion to King Midas is not just an “assertion that women cannot keep secrets [but] is doubtless a reflection of her own looseness of tongue,” which reveals her as egocentric because she bases her statement about all women as a whole from just her personal experiences (Puhvel 292). The Wife displays her knowledge of womens’ tendencies from personal exposure but also exhibits wisdom in the form of characters in her tale and their characterization. As the Wife devises complex allusions to the trends of behavior in women, her egotism leads her to group all women under one category based solely on her circumstances, rather than allowing other women to speak on their own behalf. 

With the contrast of personality from feminism to self-absorption, the Wife of Bath is revealed to be somewhat impulsive. Her personality is described as “fluid rather than absolute,” making her “identity in the process of creating itself, rather than a vivid but ‘fixed’ and defined persona,” illustrating how her character continues to evolve throughout the tale, but never is truly established (Murphy 205). The Wife’s identity seems to be in a creation phase because her actions are based on her mood at the time. This impulsivity is depicted through the Queen in her tale because once she is appointed the power to determine the fate of the Knight, she chooses to go against society and let him live for “a twelvemonth and a day to seek and learn,” what women desire most; moreover, her decision is swayed since if she were to choose to let him die and follow the king’s orders, he would have never given her the authority (Chaucer 171:85). By allowing the Knight to live, the Queen’s character parallels that of the Wife’s because they both yearn for supreme power, but when granted it, they make impulsive decisions that contribute to their ambiguous identities. 

Despite the Wife of Bath being a feminist and wanting power for women, her argument for women getting power is hypocritical, as she wants to take all the power from men for women rather than having men and women have equal amounts of power. By giving women ultimate power, men would be advocating for a voice through a movement similar to feminism; therefore, making the Wife of Bath’s feminist argument hypocritical and egotistical because she claims to speak for all women based on her personal experiences.