The Wife of Bath by Geoffery Chaucer :: essays research papers

The wife of Bath, Dame Alice is quite a spiteful muliebrity eventide though she desires only a few simple things in spiritedness power and control. Through her prologue and description, she makes mirror images of herself , which reflects the person who she really is.      Dame Alice desires the frank in life, still what she most desires above all is being more(prenominal) powerful than her man, her spouse, and her l all over. In a relationship, she wishes to be dominant, the wiz who has the last to say, the one who has control over all things in the relationship. This can be prototypal seen in her prologue, "Ill fuck off a husband yet who shall be both(prenominal) my debtor and my slave and bear his tribulation to the grave upon his flesh, as tenacious as Im his wife. For mine shall be the power all his life over his proper body, and not he"(55-59). It is then shown again in her storey when knight returns the castle and fulfills the task ass igned by the queen, "a woman wants the self-same sovereignty over her husband as over her lover, and master him he must not be above her" (174-176). Yet another example of Dame Alices wish to be dominant is presented later in the tale t over-the-hill by her. The archaic hag, after marrying the knight, gives him a choice. It was either to have her old and ugly but faithful or young and pretty but wonder off. "You have two choices which one will you try? To have me old and ugly till I die, but still loyal, true, and minuscule wife that will never displease you all her life, or would you kinda I were young and pretty and chance your arm what happens in the urban center where friends will visit you because of me, yes, and on other places too, maybe."(309-316)      By comparing the Wife of Baths prologue to her tale, it is quite obvious that Dame Alice wants to be the old hag. In well-nigh aspects, Dame Alice can be said to be jealous of the old hag. After all, the hag was given power and dominance over her husband. In Dame Alices true life it was not have a go at itly true. The husbands that Dame Alice had, " ternion of them were good and two were bad." (92) The three that she had were called good because they "were rich and old"(93) Dame Alice had complete control over them.