Wife of Bath

An Ironic Medieval Romance

The Tale of the Wife of Bath by Geoffrey Chaucer is a medieval romance, that is an exemplum of how men should treat their wives, and women in general. The tale is a transformative tale about how a Knight goes from being a Knight with no regard to women, to a caring husband who allows his wife to choose her own destiny.

The Knight is a symbol of the sovereignty that men possess. The story starts with a Knight entering a land where women are respected, and completely disrespects a lot of women by raping them. The Knight being a symbol of sovereignty is an example of irony because the Knight using his sovereignty is what got him into the problem of having to find out what women want most; which ended up being sovereignty. Another example of irony is with the Knight’s character, Knights are supposed to be chivalrous; one aspect of chivalry is respecting women. The Knight acted like the kind of person that Knights are supposed to protect other people from. Knights are also supposed to be honest and keep promises, and the Knight in the story tries to go back on his word after the Old Hag helps him, and they tell the queen what women desire most. Once the Old Hag says that the Knight must marry her, he tries to get out of his promise. Another key aspect of being chivalrous is respecting people, on the Knight and the Old Hag’s wedding night he says that she is very old and ugly and because she so old and ugly he can not sleep. “You are so loathsome, and so old also,(185)- And therewith of so low a race were born,-It’s little wonder that I toss and turn.” (3). The Knight is a very ironic character because fundamentally he is not really even a Knight .

The Tale of the Wife of Bath is a medieval romance, this story has most of the characteristics that a medieval romance should have like: fantasy fiction, courtly love, magic, ladies. In the very beginning of the tale it is written that there are fairies and elves living on the island...