The Wife Of Bath's Tale Essay

653 Words3 Pages
Wanting What the Heart Can’t Have That though he hadde me bet on every boon, He coude winne again my love anoon I trowe I loved him best for that he Was of his love dangerous to me. (517-520) In the prologue of “The Wife Of Bath’s Tale” a woman describes the difficult relationship she had between her and her fifth husband. A man that would beat her and treat her worse than words could explain, however she loved him despite the way he treated her. She loved him simply because she couldn’t really have him. He never truly loved or wanted her. He abused her while she endured all of this torture because she desperately desired to fix what couldn’t be fixed. Love and abuse go hand-in-hand in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” and stir up many controversial discussions as to why a women would continue a marriage with an abusive man. Although others would leave a toxic relationship such as the one in the tale, others would not find the choice of leaving as easy, and that…show more content…
In the prologue she reveals the true atrocity of the marriage, and how things turned from what seemed like a desirable and normal marriage to an alarming nightmare. As she tells the people of the pilgrimage of one of the times their love turned critically harmful, the woman explains, “But afterward repented me ful sore: He nolde suffre no thing of my list. By God, he smoot me ones on the list. For that I rente out of his book a leef, That of the strook myn ere weex al deef.” (296) Unfortunately, even after the fifth husband hit her so hard that it caused her to lose her hearing, she stayed with him. Once he saw the damage he did the Clerk was apologetic towards his wife, however an apology shouldn’t be able to make up for the fact that his fist caused her to go deaf. The quote is a perfect example that she was willing to love him no matter what he did or how horrible the things he did

More about The Wife Of Bath's Tale Essay

Open Document