To a certain extent, using the Wife of Bath as his mouthpiece, Chaucer does satirise traditional stereotypes, ideas and values held by the Medieval society in which he lived and wrote, though not necessarily those held by men. For instance, the archetype of a noble knight is challenged through her portrayal of a ‘lusty bacheler” (883). Habitually, one would expect a quintessential Medieval knight to be noble, chivalrous and polite, especially towards women, however the Wife’s image portrays a disrespectful, violent and libidinous nobleman who, perhaps due to his heightened sense of social status, feels he can act nefariously towards women, even to the extreme of rape: “by verray force, he rafte hire maidenhed” (887-888)! However, to a
contemporary