The second time I have read "The Wife of
Bath’s Tale", and the first time I pondered over the question, “What do
women want?” the answer to that is way more complicated than control over a
husband or boyfriend. As a woman, I look for equality within a relationship,
but in Chaucer’s time, women weren’t always put in positions of control. It’s
interesting to me that at the beginning of this story we have a knight who is
stripping a woman of her power over her body. He is punished, by women, when he
is forced to discover what women desire, which oddly enough, is power.
The power rests with the women in the beginning, when they hand out the knight’s punishment, but power is reverted to men when the hag gives the knight a choice. I can’t help but notice that the power ends with men, who we see abusing it in the first place. The knight takes the woman’s virginity, which is what women used as a bargaining tool of sorts, men usually didn’t want to marry a woman who wasn’t pure. The Wife of Bath holds power in that she isn’t ashamed to say that sexual organs should be used for pleasure, and marrying five times? Why not?
I can appreciate that the traditional attitudes are reversed, as King Arthur relents to his wife and lets her and the women of the court serve justice instead of the men. And the knight, a man who violates a woman in the worst possible way, is allowed to redeem himself through another woman, even if she is a hag. She gives the knight a choice, both of which are horrible, but when he lets her decide, he is given up his power for the woman’s choice. So to me, this tale is still slightly confusing, because I’m still left with the notion that maybe it’s too dangerous for both sexes to hold too much power.
Sigh.
I can appreciate that the traditional attitudes are reversed, as King Arthur relents to his wife and lets her and the women of the court serve justice instead of the men. And the knight, a man who violates a woman in the worst possible way, is allowed to redeem himself through another woman, even if she is a hag. She gives the knight a choice, both of which are horrible, but when he lets her decide, he is given up his power for the woman’s choice. So to me, this tale is still slightly confusing, because I’m still left with the notion that maybe it’s too dangerous for both sexes to hold too much power.
Sigh.
When you put it that way, spelling out each exchange of power in the Wife of Bath's Tale, it is confusing! However, while (if I understand you correctly) you are confused by whether one gender or another holding a certain amount of power is supposed to be good or bad, I am not sure who holds power by the end. As you said, the knight gives up his power to his wife when he gives her the choice, but when she chooses to be both beautiful and faithful, does that mean she will keep the power he surrendered to her, or will the couple conform to social norms and give most of the power to the husband? Like you, I am unsure whether this ending leaves a good or bad impression. I am not even sure if it is particularly hopeful.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I have with this story is that the man who perpetrated one of the worst acts possible, gets everything he wants and more. A subservient, gorgeous, loyal wife for a rapist-novel idea. It's hard to find comfort within this twisted tale, but the only comfort I take is that the women totally schooled his ass until he got everything he could ever dream of. The monologue from the wife to the knight about how ungodly he is compared to how godly he believes he is, made my life. I truly enjoyed how the women dished him his punishment, but in a world that is eye-for-an-eye, I wish he got more than a quest of social enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteThis was my second reading too, and I had a similar reaction. The question baffled me for quite a while, even after we had moved on to another story.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely gave me a new view on the story as a whole. I never would have made the connection that women are in control from the beginning. But, now, it totally makes sense! Of course it also adds to the overall message/question the knight was after.