Attitudes Toward Marriage In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, demonstrate many different attitudes and perceptions towards marriage. Some of these ideas are very traditional. . "Marriage in Chaucer’s time meant a union between spirit and flesh and was thus part of the marriage between Christ and the Church". The Canterbury Tales show many abuses of this sacred bond. To have a good marriage you need a lot more than looks. You have to want to make it work, love each other, and be faithful.
The Wife of Bath’s speak to the problems that happen when couples have a big difference in age. The knight is forced to marry a woman who is “foul and old and pore” by her own admission. Luckily for him, his wife chooses to magically transform into a maiden was “so fair and was so

She thinks she knows everything about marriage and not one person can tell her different. She does not follow the bible's example of only marrying once, nor does she heed his reproach to the woman at the well with five husbands. Instead, the Wife of Bath interprets Scripture in her own way. She prefers to go forth and multiply, defending her position by pointing to King Solomon, who had many wives, among other Biblical figures who married often. Of her five husbands, the Wife of Bath says, three were good and two were bad. The first three were good because they were rich, old, and obedient to her every whim. She always told husband two that she dreamt of him in her sleep. Once they had given her their money and land, she no longer had any use for them. She would make her husbands bring her presents and put them through torments. The Wife of Bath does not have good marriages because she is very selfish. She will marry anyone as long as it will benefit her. The major gain of marriage, for the Wife of bath is the marriage debt, or sex, which is why she's so strongly in favor of marriage. She also is all about marriage because appears the ability to gain property, wealth, and a comfortable living situation through a husband. The Wife Of Bath is constantly lying to all five of the husbands she has