Kerri Scales
11/10/06
Engl. 310
Dr. Kennedy
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale is largely concerned with the subject of authority and where it lies in marriage. The Wife spends much of her prologue telling of the lessons she has learned from her previous marriages, five to be exact. However, when you get past her very lengthy prologue, her tale begins. Chaucer dedicates a passage (lines 1099- 1136) to the idea of nobility, as the Wife tells the “noble” knight of the levels of nobility. The structure of her passage, more specifically where her lines begin and end offer a rhythm to her speech. Chaucer also references Christ and takes from Dante’s poem La Divine Commedia, as images the Wife references.
In relation to the overall theme of the narrative, Chaucer begins to foreshadow the behavior of the knight, as he is first told the levels and ways of nobility and then later in the tale exemplifies those same values. Staggered by the Wife’s appearance, “It wol nat been amended nevere mo. Thou art so loothly, and so oold also, And thereto comen of so lough a kynde, That little wonder is though I walwe and wynde” (Chaucer 119), the knight is persuaded by the Wife as she begins to improve his uneasy feelings towards her. “That therefore sholden ye be gentil men, Swich arrogance is nat worth an hen. Looke who that is moost vertuous alway, Pryvee and apert, and moost entendeth ay To do the gentil dedes that he kan; Taak hym for the grettest gentil man” (Chaucer 120). Chaucer sets up this passage in rhyme, which helps the Wife’s speech have a natural flow to it as well as create emphasis and connections among the words in the text. However, the use of rhyme makes her speech sound un-developed and almost childish. The Wife is speaking of nobility as an inherent virtue, not affiliated with riches or noble birth but interestingly enough, the Wife gained her riches through multiple marriages. The use of rhyme in her speech sounds superficial, as if she is using it as a ploy to lure the knight into doing what she wants him to do. The Wife speaks of being noble no matter if it is seen publicly or privately, yet she herself does not lead a noble life.
As the Wife continues her speech she speaks of God, and that it is from him who we claim our nobility. “Crist wole we clayme of hym oure gentilesse, Nat of oure eldres for hire old richesse” (Chaucer 120). Although our ancestors can give us their heritage and possibly a noble birth, they can not pass on a virtuous life, for it is in the eye of the beholder. In her speech, the Wife also references Dante’s epic poem, La Divina Commedia, a comedy about the allegory of life and God. “Ful selde up riseth by his branches smale Prowesse of man, for God, of his goodnesse, Wole that of hym we clayme oure gentillesse” (Chaucer 120). In-bedded within Dante’s comedy are the ten circles of hell. More appropriately, the second and fourth circles which are concerned with those overcome by lust and those concerned with material goods. The Wife is an example of both of these sins, as she takes lengthy pilgrimages but is more concerned with people admiring her wealthy manner of dress and for men to admire her as a sexual being than she is of serving her lord. Using images of both Christ and the circles of hell (referenced in the connection to Dante) Chaucer sort of makes the Wife’s speech negate itself. She speaks of the virtue of nobility as one inherent and given by Christ, as opposed to passed down through family lineage, however he also points to the circles of hell when quoting Dante’s epic poem, which exemplify the sinful ways of the Wife.
The Wife of Bath’s Tale explores female and male power through a love relationship. The Wife spends much of her lengthy prologue exploring her past marriages but she also spends a passage on the idea of nobility. She begins to explain to the “noble” knight the levels of nobility, even though she herself does not lead a noble life. The use of rhyme in the structure of the passage offers a childish connotation to the text, downplaying the serious tone the Wife thinks she is using. Chaucer’s cross reference of the ten circles of hell and Christ also deprecate the Wife’s knowledge of nobility as she explains it to the knight.
