Essay: Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale

Sample Essay

Words 453

This is an essay on the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale. For most tales the prologue is mostly an instructive preface to the tale; here the tale is more of a follow-up to the prologue, which is of more concern to the Wife’s listeners and the readers. The Wife tells a lot about herself, but her explanation is almost a full memoir; it appears, as a combination of admission and effort at justifying herself.

For most tales the prologue is mostly an instructive preface to the tale; here the tale is more of a follow-up to the prologue, which is of more concern to the Wife’s listeners and the readers. The Wife tells a lot about herself, but her explanation is almost a full memoir; it appears, as a combination of admission and effort at justifying herself.

The practicality of the wife’s life with five husbands, the brutality, and the ultimate agreement she arrive at with number five are all reflected in the amusing tale she tells.  She starts by showing how, even under the rule of King Arthur and his gallant knights; women are dominated by men and at their mercy. Having the knight rape a young maid.  Immediately, though she begins to intertwine in her viewpoint by displaying that the queen could make the king to let her choose the fate of a knight.

By questioning the importance of virginity, the Wife of Bath, calls into inquiry both worldly and spiritual ideas of women. The most powerful figure of woman in the Middle Ages, one who personified all the idealization of virginity involved was the Virgin Mary. The end though is happy but it shows that there should be a point of equality for women who have no respite from male dominance.

Kindly order custom made Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers, Thesis, Dissertation, Assignment, Book Reports, Reviews, Presentations, Projects, Case Studies, Coursework, Homework, Creative Writing, Critical Thinking, on the topic by clicking on the order page.