This Woman Just Wants Food

Because however bad we are within,

We want to be thought wise and free from sin.

(Lines 943-944)

            

Although I’ve read Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” before, I had no idea it was inspired by Gower’s “The Tale of Florent.” Whoever had this copy of Nine Medieval Romances of Magic before me marked up Chaucer’s tale quite remarkably…no pun intended. He or she definitely loved to highlight and color code, so I didn’t have to read Gower’s tale (or even the little introduction) to discover and analyze the similarities and differences between the two. I have to say, I’m kind of glad Chaucer added the rape because it creates a more interesting story, even if “more interesting” includes the fact that there’s a “happy ever after” for the rapist knight in the end. Let me emphasize this a little more in case Chaucer didn’t hear me in his grave: YOU GAVE THE RAPIST KNIGHT A HAPPY EVER AFTER DUDE.  WHY? I understand that a male raping a female is relevant to the hierarchy of the sexes that practically produces women’s desire for power, but I’ve still always hated it about the tale, so I’m excited to read “The Tale of Florent” and pretend the rape never happens. Anyways, there’s nothing else about the tale I have to complain about it. I was a little shaken up when I read that King Arthur’s court didn’t have a feast because, you know, that’s what King Arthur’s court does best, but that’s exactly what makes the absence of a feast especially significant, so I get it. I just wanted a feast. Food is the answer to the riddle, guys.

 The concept of a male trying to find out what a woman wants in general is classic, and Chaucer writes the search as a literal quest, which is rather humorous to me. I mean, I’m imagining a medieval man, post-argument with his wife, posed like “The Thinker,” and the thought bubble above his head is like, “What do these women F*CKING WANT? SOS.” Jump cut: he hops on his noble steed and rides off into the countryside. There’s a music overlay as he inquires far and wide about the answer. In the end, his wife just wants him to let her on top more… Come on, guys, that’s hilarious.

 I’m curious to see how other people interpret the old, ugly woman the knight meets because, to me, the riddle has no single answer if every woman the knight speaks to desires something different. I think the desire for sovereignty is unique to the hag, even though “no woman, wife, or maid, or widow” contradicts the knight when he gives it to King Arthur as the answer. I think the hag strips herself of any actual power when she asks, “Then have I got the upper hand, since I may choose and govern as I say?” Then, she only becomes both fair and good because her husband gives her permission to choose between ugly and good or fair and (possibly) bad, which is just so nice of him that her magic unlocks the options for her - I guess. Girl, you say power is what you want most. No one ever said that power had to be granted to you by a man. Are we to assume that a woman can only obtain power if a man gives it to her? (For Christ’s sake, Word (2010) won’t even let me type that last sentence with the female pronoun before the male pronoun. I’m pissed.) Seriously, where’s the tale where a woman takes power away from a man without his permission?

"The Wife of Bath's Tale" in Nine Medieval Romances of Magic by Marijane Osborn.

Oh No He Didn't!

First things first, don't get it twisted. I LOVE "The Wife if Bath's Tale". She's my favorite character in the Canterbury Tales BY FAR. She's a strong, independent woman who works her sexuality and femininity. Girlfriend has got it going on!

Focusing on her tale for a minute, though. I've read this before in British Lit and I must have been a walking zombie in that class during this discussion because DAMN, we have our own Stanford Rape Case!! He's everyone's bro and he's hot and he's a bad ass knight. I get it. However, Boyfriend straight up violates a woman (*ahem* NOT OKAY *ahem*). There's a big broo-haha about it, rightly so. But can someone please explain to me why all these courtly ladies are defending his ass? I'm supposing the punishment for a gentleman to rape a maiden is death, since that was going to happen. But all of these chicks gather up in arms to save him. Ladies, he is not worth saving!! He did one of the most horrible things a person can do. Off with his head, I say! I don't care if he's King Arthur's top dog, a great lay, and richer than Midas. Nope nope NOPE. Bye, Felicia!

Can I also mention that I kinda like Queen G in this story? And how ironic it is that she's the one who  sets him on this quest? This chick doesn't even know what SHE wants half the time and the fact that she sends a man to practically do the impossible is so in tune with her character. She still should have killed him, but that's neither here nor there. I'm just salty. 

I'm so pissed that he gets off. Literally. What does he get for rape? A years vacation and a hot wife who will stay true to him. What did that young girl get? Where's her knight in shining armor? Where's her Happily Ever After? Who is going to want her now that she's not a virgin? 

And the Magic-HooHahcomes back again. Of course he will now love his wife because she chooses to be beautiful and faithful to him. Of course that makes everything all better!! Why am I not surprised!?Wifey is a freaking fairy and she can make him miserable! Why does everyone like this guy?!? 

Ugh... Now I'm pissed off.

Unfair Punishment

I understand that Chaucer wanted to give a lesson at the end of the story, but the fact that he isn't punished more harshly for raping a woman makes me angry. The women of the court and Queen Guinevere basically give him a vacation before he has to come back and possibly redeem himself. Hello?? He raped someone, at the very least chase him with pitch forks!

I had forgotten what happened in this story from the first time I read it two years ago. I was surprised he actually got the answer right, even though I could disagree with his answer for what women want most in the world. Today, a lot of women would say they want to be treated the same way that men are. I understand times were different back then and women wanted to be the ones in charge for once. I do like how the old lady gives him what he wants but also gives him an insult, that's the way I read it anyway. She knew he was superficial and why would she want to deal with a whiny husband who complained about how old and ugly she was.

The knight gave her the right to choose for herself to become old and good or young and unfaithful. She made the choice where he (and maybe she) would get the best of both worlds: being both young and good. By doing this, she showed him that good things can come from women making their own decisions. In my eyes it still seems like she changes her physical appearance to appease him, but hey she could just want her youth back as well. Despite his crime made in the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised that he handed over the power to the woman as he didn't with the woman who he raped.

I am also a big fan of how she took the knight's insults without letting it affect her. She truly had great wisdom that surpassed his and other women who would have reacted a lot differently. She made him promise to do as she said after she gave him the answer in the court. She made him stick to his word as he should have. Even after everything, she was able to remain in a happy marriage with a man who had done such a bad crime. She was able to teach him in a way that could open his eyes to seeing how women could decide things for themselves which is often times what women still try to do today.

What a Woman!

Ahhh, I was so excited to reread this story, even with the confusing Middle English. I simply love the Wife of Bath. She has to be my favorite character in Medieval literature. That being said, I'm not extremely well-read in Medieval literature or anything. She's just one of the characters that have stuck with me through Dr. MB's classes. Before we continue, let me tell you that I picture her just like Scarlett O' Hara. Always have, always will.

Honestly, she's sexy and sharp as a tack, and I don't believe that depictions of the Wife of Bath necessarily do her justice. Because like Scarlett, she's not just a sex object, although she is more than aware of her appeal. She is well-read and knows it (this is one difference between her and Scarlett, a Southern belle who had better things to do) and frequently uses it to her advantage. She even has knowledge of the Bible, saying that Solomon was just as promiscuous than she is, if not more. Honestly. She's aware of all of those religious bigots who are judging her sexual confidence, and is better read in their own book than they are. I adore her for this.

Her sexual confidence, in my opinion, makes her so great to me. Her attitude is basically, "Yeah I've had five husbands. Maybe I'll have six. Sex rocks." She is so comfortable in her own skin. I also love how she describes her marriages, particularly the man she describes near the end of her prologue, whom she seems to love the most. They can both be hurtful and manipulative, but they have an honest and true marriage. As a married woman, I appreciate this. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but their passion is so apparent to me.

Her tale is interesting as well, particularly due to the fact that the moral seems to be (if I'm reading it correctly) that want women want the most is free will. This is interesting coming from the Wife of Bath as she is always seeking this. I'm not sure how this story translates today. Is free will really what women today want most? I would say having free will today goes without saying. So what do we wish? I myself like a man who can make a mean chicken taco, but what do all you ladies (and gents) want in a relationship? 

Who Holds the Power?

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.