The Wife of Bath in the Canterbury Tales as the Embodiment of Women of That Time

In Chaucer’s, General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, the narrator starts off with a description of Spring. The narrator begins with this to situate the story with a particular time and place. He gives a detailed description of how April showers have made the ground fertile, the flowers are blossoming, and the birds are chirping. After the long winter, the people decided to go on a pilgrimage to travel to the shrines in Canterbury for a spiritual cleaning. The story of their trip begins with the narrator renting a room at the Tabarn in Southwark before they start their journey the next morning. The narrator in line 20 identifies himself as a person on the trip by talking in first person by including “I” which shows he is a member of the group. The narrator then goes into detail describing each of the twenty-nine men going on this trip.

The narrator starts off with the description of the knight. In Medieval England, the knight is seen as the noblest of all which is why he is described as a man of high status and great respect. Each pilgrim on this trip comes from different ranks and different occupations. The narrator purposely describes these pilgrims in order based on their social standings starting with the highest status people first. The narrative describes the knight has having truth, honor, loyalty, as well as conducting himself in a polite way, never saying unkind words about anyone. The narrator describes him as a non-materialist man who does not care about what people think based on his clothing. He is a man who have fought in numerous battles, and is very well respected, but he dresses himself in “fustian” tunic that is discolored. The next person described is the Squire, who is the Knights twenty-year-old son. He is training to follow in his father’s footsteps, which would put him on the same social status. He fights his battles, has great strength, and agility, but he is interest in going after the ladies. His talents are music and arts, but he still respects his father and satisfies his responsibilities towards him such as, cutting the meat. The next person on the trip is the Yeoman, which is their servant. the narrator does not say much about him except describing his all green clothes from head to toe, and he carries a bow, which suggests that he may be a forester.

The second group of social status starts off with the Prioress. She is a nun who is known as Madam Eglantine who travels with two other nuns. The narrator describes her as pleasant, modest, and quiet. Her table manners are described as, “At table she had been well taught withal/ And never from her lips let morsels fall/ Nor dipped her fingers deep in sauce, but ate/ With so much care the food upon her plate” She could also speak fluent French even though she is not of the French court. She wears a brooch which show she is a woman of money, and one of her flaws is that is more concerned with her appearance than her connection with spiritual ways. In Medieval times, it was not allowed for a woman to be more concerned with her clothing if she was a woman who devoted herself to god. The narrator says, “And would be held worthy of reverence/ But, to say something of her moral sense/ She was so charitable and piteous.” A Prioress should not be going on a pilgrimage if she was devoted to god which shows she does not fully follow the rules of religious practice. Her behavior is as a normal woman would act, she would weep if she saw a mouse in a trap and she owns dogs that she fed with good foods such as, milk, fine white bread, and roasted flesh. The second nun is not described at all only that she is another pilgrim on this trip as well as three priests.

The other women described on the trip is the Wife of Bath. She is described very differently from the Prioress. The Wife of Bath description starts off with her physical appearance. She has a gap between her teeth and is deaf in one ear which during these times, was attractive to people. Her clothing, physical features, and her personal life are purposely discussed so the readers can see how she does not fit the Christian rules as well as shows how woman were very criticized during these times. The Wife of Bath is a strong women who shows off her Sunday clothes with pride, such as her “Her kerchiefs were of finest weave and ground/ I dare swear that they weighed a full ten pound/ Which, of a Sunday, she wore on her head/ Her hose were of the choicest scarlet red/ Close gartered, and her shoes were soft and new.” Her clothing symbolizes that she is not shy with her way she lives, and that she is a talented weaver. This also shows The Wife of Bath is very materialistic and wants people to know she has money, which is why she buys new shoes for this pilgrimage. She has been married five times and gone on these pilgrimages to Jerusalem three times and other places in Europe to find another husband, as well as her own liking. The Wife of Bath is described a lot different than how woman should act in society. She is on her own path and that has caused her to be respected throughout her life.

The cook, one of the other people on the journey, was there just for the use of making food. He is part of one of the lowest level social class. He is given detail that he is skilled in his trade, but that he is there to boil the chicken and fry. He is said to have a deadly sore on his shin, but he makes the best blancmange to turn the gross description of him around. The pardoner, which is somebody who sells church pardons, is the last person described on the trip. He is described as somebody who sings loudly and has hair yellow like wax. He carried a wallet full of pardons from Rome, but he is not trusted and carries a bag full of fake relics, such as he claims to have Our True Lady’s veil. Just like the cook, he is messy with his long hair and has characteristics that show dishonesty.

The Prologue ends with the narrator explain that he is telling this story based off of memory and apologizes for any offense this may cause the reader. The narrator tries to present each story in a fitting way based off the type of character he was explaining. It can be argued that throughout this prologue, Chaucer’s narrative favored the knight due to his high ranking and looked down upon the women such as The Wife of Bath and the Prioress for being women who cared about their appearance.