Quotes From The Wife Of Bath

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Who is wife of Bath? Her real name is Alison. She is deaf and has a gap between her teeth. She is one of the female story tellers in the Canterbury Tales who also is very outspoken and fearless. She is portrayed as a lustful woman who is also domineering. From her tales we learn that she has travelled to so many pilgrimages. Not only has she seen a lot in the world, she has also married and lived with five husbands. She therefore has experience in ways of the world to include love and sex. She is wealthy and tasteful. This is demonstrated by her clothes which are described to appear extravagance; her face is wreathed in heavy cloth, her stockings are a fine scarlet color and the leather of her shoes is soft, fresh and new. Her stylish garments and seamstress talent reflects the fact she hails from Bath, an English cloth-making town in middle ages. Although she is controversial and enjoys talking, she is seen to be intelligent. Through her experience with her five husbands she has learnt to be independent. She takes control over her husbands using her body as she states “the wife uses her body as a bargain tool, withholding sexual pleasure until her husband’s gives her what she demands” However she conforms to a…show more content…
She is seen to have her own views of the scripture. She gives a detailed account of her believes about marriage. She gives examples of Old Testament figures like Abraham, Jacob and Solomon as men who enjoyed multiple women. Quoting from the bibles, she is seen justifying her reasons of multiple marriages. She argues against those who questioning her decision to marrying more than once. For example she uses the story of Samaritan woman and Christ at the well "For thou hast had five husbands," thus said he, 
"And he whom thou hast now to be with thee
Is not thine husband." And I would ask now why that same fifth man
Was not husband to the Samaritan? How many might she have, then, in marriage? (WBP
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