In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer lends his views and satirizes the different estates existing at the time, which was around the mid to late 1300s. From the clergy, to the nobility, to the commoners like the miller and the cook, Chaucer serves to offer comments about each person’s merits and the finest examples of each estate. One of the stories that can be found in the collection is the story of Bath’s wife. She is a woman that has been married five times before and unlike some of the other pilgrims, is a veteran at paying homage. Her story relates to her in that the story is about the role of a woman in marriage and she is very experienced with marriage.

In the Wife of Bath’s Prologue, the Wife, Dame Alice begins by saying how marriage is but a misery and a woe, throughout the prologue, she goes on to add her opinions on virginity, the roles of women in a marriage. She says that although Christ said it was preferable, in the heavenly sense, to be a virgin, it was by no means an unbreakable covenant to remain chaste. Chastity was for some but not others. The prologue also gives her an opportunity to tell about her previous husbands. It seems the reason she married these men, for the most part, was to gain power over them. Her first four husbands were old, treated her well, obeying her every whim, and died. Her fifth husband was the only one she married out of love, and ironically, he is the only husband that treated her poorly. One day, he hit her so hard that she lost some of her hearing, fearing she was near death, he swore he would obey her every word. Following that, the pair had a perfect marriage.

Dame Alice’s tale is about a knight who raped a virgin. He was sentenced to death but the queen offers a chance at redemption. He must answer one question, “what do women want?” He asks many people but they all differ in their response, until he meets an old woman who tells him the correct answer. Women want dominion over their husbands. As a result of her help, the knight must marry her. At first he is repulsed at marrying an old hag, but the woman offers him a choice. Either she is ugly and faithful, or beautiful and faithless. He finally realizes his wrongs and makes the right answer, which is to let the woman decide, pledging his fidelity no matter what the decision. The woman becomes beautiful and they live a perfect life together. This story relates to the teller in that it is a story about women’s domination over men, or in this case, one man. The knight’s fate is first in the hands of the queen, and then in the hands of the old hag. Another theme of the story is, of course, marriage. This relates to the teller in that Dame Alice has been married many times and experience has made her a self-proclaimed expert. The story serves also to illustrate one of the Wife’s most important tenants, that a successful marriage depends on a husband’s devotion and ability to follow his wife.

The Wife’s of Bath’s Tale is a tale of marriage and the domination of women. One might say it has many feminist qualities, the empowerment of women being an important theme. This is the perfect tale for the Wife to tell, as the story of her life is one of marriages and the domination of men.