CANTERBURY TALES: THE WIFE OF BATH'S TALE 2
Thematic Presentation in the Wife of Bath's Tale
This is the story of a knight, a maiden, a queen, and an old hag. The tale begins when the
knight rapes the maiden and has to be subjected to a punishment by the queen. He has two
options of punishment; find the answer as to what women desire most or get beheaded within a
year. He sets out, travels lands, and interviews thousands of women but still find no pair with a
consensus on what it is that women desire most. On his way back, he meets fairies who soon
disappear and are replaced by an old hag. Upon learning about his challenge, the hag offers to
give him the answer if and only if he will unconditionally accept to do anything she asks him to
do. Upon agreeing, the knight gets to learn that every woman desires total control over the
sovereignty. It is this same feature that he has to give back to the hag to achieve the marriage of a
beautiful, charming, obedient, and honest wife who was previously covered in the deceiving look
of an old hag. An intricate interaction of the knight, the queen, the hag, the maiden and other
characters reveal the disposition of themes like women and femininity, power, poverty, aging,
and appearances that make give the wife of bath's tale its identity as a feminist text of the Middle
Ages.
Women and femininity
Women and femininity suffices as the leading theme and topic of this tale. It is
wholesomely about women, their desires, their values, their activities and their fantasies in the
world of men. Despite starting on an oppressive note with a rape case, the plot of this tale
transcends into an all women and femininity affair. The knight is used to deliver the world of
women to the tale’s audience in unique and spectacular ways. Travelling across the lands
listening to different women and what they consider the ultimate desire reveals all mighty and
minor desires women may have of their husbands. With the ultimate desire discovered as
