Anything men can do, the wife of bath can do better....yes she can, yes she can, yes she can!

The wife of Bath still confuses me, because she's on the border between feminism and using feminism as an excuse to be promiscuous. She is definitely a powerful individual. I wouldn't look up to her as a mother or sister persona, but I think I would cheer her on as she talked back to a man and put him in his place.

 In terms of the prologue, I find it very peculiar that it's longer than her tale. Usually, someone who talks more about themselves and less about the story they're sharing would come across as vain and boastful, but the prologue wasn't really all about her. A great chunk of it was discussing her five husbands. I think the prologue being so descriptive is mostly her setting the ground rules of the trip and saying, I'm loud and proud of who I am and you don't have to like me, but that's who I am. As well as, watch out. I'm experienced with handling and even controlling men and I can control you. I partially also think that she's a bit insane. Yes, literally. I give her kudos for her actions around line 790, when she feigns death and then punches her husband, but as powerful and surprising a move as that is, it's also crazy! I don't know if she's overly sexually driven or if she just likes to know that she can claim one husband after another, but it seems upsetting and bizarre that she doesn't mourn these men. Many women have to work up the courage to marry a second man when they lose the first, and some can't bear to marry again ever. She bounces back awfully quick. And in 820 when she says that she "was to him as kinde as any wyf from Denmark unto Inde, and also trewe, and so he was to me"...at first I thought this was great. Maybe this tussle let them work out their differences and become a better couple. But as I thought about it, I got more of a criminal view and pictured her tying his hands in ropes and burning his anti-women books in the fire. It felt so manipulative and evil and it made me feel like the ending line was telling women that she appeared to be a great wife, but she wore the pants and held the reigns of the relationship and could make this pairing so great because she had taken charge.

In terms of her story, I was shocked by what it was. I was expecting some vulgar bar story about picking up men. Instead, it started to gear towards woman power and saying that no man could ever know what women want most. I also got this huge vibe of women can do anything better than men. So maybe not complete feminism, but more of a competition. I was also very confused by the ending. The whole story you think that yes, women are winning, this knight will never know what women truly desire, he's just going to get hundreds of different answers and he will fail and be killed. But then he ends up being rewarded with a beautiful woman? What was the whole point of the story? Whatever it was, its meaning is shattered as the knight claims his prize: a woman. The story also warps what I was thinking before. Maybe she is insane, but maybe she is not the manipulator. Maybe she is saying that no matter how powerful women are, they should keep their mouths shut. Maybe she hit her husband and their relationship was so "great" because he lashed back and abused her and told her to never speak of it again. Maybe the facade of perfection is her keeping her silence about being controlled and only looks perfect and maybe she is saying that this is true of every wife. That every wife is powerful on the inside, but is forced to look like the perfect married pair on the outside.

I think The wife of Bath feels women are better than men, but is she really acting on it or is she saying, yes, we know we're superior and better, and if you give us the chance we'll fight back, but it's more proper to hide it and pretend all is well?