The Wife of Bath’s Tale Fragment 3, lines 857–1264 Summary: The Wife of Bath’s TaleIn the days of King Arthur, the Wife of Bath begins, theisle of Britain was full of fairies and elves. Now, those creaturesare gone because their spots have been taken by the friars and othermendicants that seem to fill every nook and cranny of the isle.And though the friars rape women, just as the incubi did in thedays of the fairies, the friars only cause women dishonor—the incubialways got them pregnant.In Arthur’s court, however, a young, lusty knight comesacross a beautiful young maiden one day.

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Overcome by lust and hissense of his own power, he rapes her. The court is scandalized bythe crime and decrees that the knight should be put to death bydecapitation.

However, Arthur’s queen and other ladies of the courtintercede on his behalf and ask the king to give him one chanceto save his own life. Arthur, wisely obedient to wifely counsel,grants their request.

The queen presents the knight with the followingchallenge: if, within one year, he can discover what women wantmost in the world and report his findings back to the court, hewill keep his life. If he cannot find the answer to the queen’squestion, or if his answer is wrong, he will lose his head.The knight sets forth in sorrow. He roams throughout thecountry, posing the question to every woman he meets. To the knight’s dismay,nearly every one of them answers differently.

Some claim that women lovemoney best, some honor, some jolliness, some looks, some sex, someremarriage, some flattery, and some say that women most want tobe free to do as they wish. Finally, says the Wife, some say thatwomen most want to be considered discreet and secretive, althoughshe argues that such an answer is clearly untrue, since no womancan keep a secret. As proof, she retells Ovid’s story of Midas.Midas had two ass’s ears growing under his hair, which he concealedfrom everybody except his wife, whom he begged not to disclose hissecret. She swore she would not, but the secret burned so much insideher that she ran down to a marsh and whispered her husband’s secretto the water.

The Wife then says that if her listeners would liketo hear how the tale ends, they should read Ovid.She returns to her story of the knight. When his day ofjudgment draws near, the knight sorrowfully heads for home. As herides near a forest, he sees a large group of women dancing anddecides to approach them to ask his question. But as he approaches,the group vanishes, and all he can see is an ugly old woman.

Thewoman asks if she can be of help, and the knight explains his predicamentand promises to reward her if she can help him. The woman tellsthe knight that he must pledge himself to her in return for herhelp, and the knight, having no options left, gladly consents.

Shethen guarantees that his life will be saved.The knight and the old woman travel together to the court, where,in front of a large audience, the knight tells the queen the answerwith which the old woman supplied him: what women most desire isto be in charge of their husbands and lovers. The women agree resoundinglythat this is the answer, and the queen spares the knight’s life.The old hag comes forth and publicly asks the knight to marry her.The knight cries out in horror. The gathering discografia mega millions.

He begs her to take his materialpossessions rather than his body, but she refuses to yield, andin the end he is forced to consent. The two are married in a small,private wedding and go to bed together the same night. Throughoutthe entire ordeal, the knight remains miserable.While in bed, the loathsome hag asks the knight why heis so sad. He replies that he could hardly bear the shame of havingsuch an ugly, lowborn wife. She does not take offense at the insult,but calmly asks him whether real “gentillesse,” or noble character,can be hereditary (1109). There have beensons of noble fathers, she argues, who were shameful and villainous,though they shared the same blood.

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Her family may be poor, but realpoverty lies in covetousness, and real riches lie in having littleand wanting nothing. She offers the knight a choice: either he canhave her be ugly but loyal and good, or he can have her young andfair but also coquettish and unfaithful. The knight ponders in silence.Finally, he replies that he would rather trust her judgment, andhe asks her to choose whatever she thinks best.

Because the knight’sanswer gave the woman what she most desired, the authority to choosefor herself, she becomes both beautiful and good.The two have a long, happy marriage, and the woman becomes completelyobedient to her husband. The Wife of Bath concludes with a pleathat Jesus Christ send all women husbands who are young, meek, andfresh in bed, and the grace to outlive their husbands.