Diction In The Wife Of Bath's Tale

Wife of Bath’s tale is about a knight who is sent out to find out what women most desire. During his travels, he comes across a woman who gives him the correct answer of sovereignty. The queen accepts his answer but also makes the knight marry the women who gave him the answer, that night the knight can’t sleep because the lack of beauty from his new wife is unsettling to him, so she gives him two choices beauty, or loyalty. The knight then has to think over what is important to him. Chaucer then use this point in the story to really grab reader’s attention by his use of diction in the tale. A few important phrases and words in the tale are, a sigh from the knight, the knight saying the wife can choose, and also the wife demanding a kiss. The

This is important because it occurs immediately after the knight gives his wife sovereignty, which she then uses to demand a kiss. The wife demanding a kiss tells readers that she is happy with the decision made by her husband, and also that she is immediately taking back control over her own body. Women having control over their body was not recognized back then, and rape laws for women were lacking, except for the law that said if a woman is taken by force the man should be beheaded and held responsible. By the wife making demands already, the she has embraced her new power role in the relationship in order to become what her husband desires most, a beautiful and faithful wife. By having power and making demands the wife is slowly trying to break down the idea that women are inferior, and if men were to start giving women choices they wouldn’t lead them down a dark path, but they will be more willing to do what their husbands want. The wife then says, “for by my trouthe, I wol be to yow bothe” (Chaucer, 1240). Since the knight took into consideration what the queen had sent him to find, his wife rewarded him by giving him both loyalty and beauty. This was the best thing for her to do since her husband gave her what she desired most. Women had very little power or rule in the middle ages so the wife had to be wise about how she uses her sovereignty because since she is a woman her husband can take it back from her. And if he were to take it back then the whole idea of women being able to have some power and do good will be set back even further because men will fear the idea that a woman can make wise and smart decision for the