The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale Women and Femininity Quotes
How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
Quote #1
Women may go saufly up and doun.
In every bussh or under every tree
Ther is noon oother incubus but he,
And he ne wol doon hem but dishonour.
(884 – 887)
An "incubus" was a demon child thought to be begotten upon a woman by a supernatural being like an elf or fairy. The Wife's claim is that women may go "saufly up and doun" without fear of being accosted by a supernatural being and forced to have a demon baby. However, the irony is that women still have to worry about the 'dishonor' friars getting upon them, which probably refers to sexual assault.
Quote #2
Paraventure, swich was the statut tho –
But that the queene and othere ladyes mo
So longe preyeden the kyng of grace,
Til he his lyf hym gaunted in the place,
And yaf hym to the queen al at hir wille,
To chese wheither she wolde hym save or spille.
(899 – 904)
The queen's plea for mercy and the king's yielding of judgment to her was a common plot element in medieval romances. The queen's role as intercessor was modeled on medieval Christianity's treatment of the Virgin Mary as merciful intercessor between sinful people and God. This role for women also drew upon a view of women as more inherently emotional than men, who were supposedly more reasonable. Strict, reasonable justice would behead the offending knight, but the emotional queen would take pity on him.
Quote #3
I grante thee lyf, if thou kanst tellen me
What thyng is it that wommen moost desiren.
Be war and keep thy nekke-boon from iren!
(910 – 911)
The queen might regard this sentence as an appropriate punishment for rape. The knight raped a young woman "maugree her heed" (893), or in spite of her desires. Now, he must pay attention to women's desires or lose his head.
Quote #4
Somme seyde, wommen loven best richesse,
Somme seyde honour, somme seyde jolynesse,
Somme riche array, somme seyden lust abedde,
And oftetyme to be wydwe and wedde.
(931 – 934)
Most of these accounts of what women most desire to make sense to us; wealth, honor, "jolynesse," or beauty, nice clothes, and good sex all seem like reasonable things to desire. But why might a woman want to be often widowed and wed? The Wife's biography provides the answer: an often-widowed woman accrued her husbands' property upon their deaths, meaning that she would be rich after a few marriages. Such a woman was actually a more desirable marital partner than a young maiden because of the property she brought with her to the marriage.
Quote #5
Somme seyde, that oure hertes been moost esed
Whan that we been yflatered and yplesed.
He gooth ful ny the sothe, I wol nat lye,
A man shal wynne us best with flaterye;
And with attendance and with bisynesse
Been we ylymed, bothe moore and lesse.
(935 – 940)
The Wife can't resist the opportunity to insert her own opinions into her tale. This section could read as a how-to manual for her husbands. In using the second person plural 'we' here, the Wife shows how she's relating to the women in the tale, and how the tale becomes yet another opportunity for her to talk about herself.
Quote #6
And somme seyen, how that we loven best
For to be free, and do right as us lest,
And that no man repreve us of oure vice,
But seye that we be wise, and nothyng nyce.
(941 – 944)
The idea that women most want to be free to do as they please is familiar to us from the Wife of Bath's Prologue, as is the assertion that women don't like to be reproved of their vices. In juxtaposing the two here, the Wife reveals how the aversion to correction might be related to the desire for freedom; women want to be free to do just they please, and forced adherence to a moral code inhibits this freedom.
Quote #7
For trewely, ther is noon of us alle,
If any wight wol clawe us on the galle,
That we nel kike; for he seith us sooth:
For, be we never so vicious withinne,
We sol been holden wise, and clene of synne.
(945 – 950)
Now the Wife connects women's aversion to correction to vanity, or the desire to appear a certain way to others. Recall that in her Prologue, though, the Wife asserts that no one, including a man, likes to be reproved of his vices. It's not just women, then, that are guilty of vanity.
Quote #8
And somme seyn, that greet delit han we
For to been holden stable and eek secree,
And in o purpos stedefastly to dwelle,
And nat biwreye thyng that men us telle.
(951 – 954)
What's curious about this passage is the way it mixes what appear to us to be two separate attributes as if they're the same thing. Women want to be considered "steadfast" or focused on their goals. But what does this have to do with being able to keep a secret? Perhaps a steadfast person is better able to keep a secret because their loyalty remains focused upon the person who told them the secret.
Quote #9
But that tale is nat worth a rake-stele,
Pardee, we wommen konne no thyng hele.
(955 – 956)
The idea that women were unable to keep a secret was related to the antifeminist stereotype as women as indiscriminate chatterboxes and gossips. The Wife herself confirms this stereotype when she describes how she caused her husband great shame by revealing everything about him to her gossips, even something as mundane as when he peed on a wall.
Quote #10
And sith she dorste telle it to no man,
Doun to a mareys faste by she ran,
Til she cam there, hir herte was a fyre,
And as a bitore bombleth in the myre,
She leyde hir mouth unto the water doun.
(975 – 979)
This passage compares Midas's wife's speech to a "bitore" that "bombleth in the myre." A "bitore" is a type of bird, and by comparing the woman's speech to its warbles, the passage draws upon the antifeminist tradition of denying that women were capable of meaningful speech. Their speech was supposedly more like the meaningless sounds of animals than the meaning-packed musings of men.
Quote #11
'My lige lady, generally,' quod he,
'Wommen desiren to have sovereynetee
As wel over hir housbond as hir love,
And for to been in maistrie hym above.'
(1043 – 1046)
Having read the Wife of Bath's Prologue, we're not surprised that what women want most is sovereignty. However, the Wife of Bath's Prologue left us with the impression that a woman desired sovereignty not only to her husband, but also to the woman's own body and mind. By limiting the scope of the desired sovereignty here, this passage is more in keeping with St Paul's behest that a husband and wife should have sovereignty over one another.