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Wife Of Bath Magic Power

513 Words3 Pages

One inference I can make about the Wife of Bath in “The Tale of the Wife of Bath” by Chaucer is that she has magical powers. The author provided multiple places in the story where she was aided with magical powers. To begin, once the knight had spent his year of traveling and seeking truth he walked back to the castle in shame because he knew he was going to be killed for not having the correct answer. On his way he saw a few ladies dancing and carrying on around a fire. He figured it would not hurt to ask these ladies for the truth he had been searching for. But when he grew close to the ladies they disappeared and left an older woman in their place. The Wife of Bath made the other ladies disappear; she knew how to draw the knight in. This was a prime example of magical powers, making someone disappear. …show more content…

In addition to the fire scene, once the knight and she are married she gives a second appearance of an enchantress. The Wife of Bath makes an offer to the knight. She tells him she can be beautiful and unfaithful or stay ugly and remain faithful forever. The knight tells her to be whatever she pleases, which was the right thing to say! When he gave her authority over him, she transformed into a beautiful girl who will also be faithful. In lines 392-396 of “The Tale of the Wife of Bath” readers witness this example first hand, “Do with my life and death as you like best. Throw back the curtain and see how it is. And when the knight saw verily all this, that she so very fair was, and young too, for joy he clasped her in his strong arms two.” Overall, the Wife of Bath possesses some sort of magical powers in this story of the knight and

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