Diving right into my
thoughts on the Wife of Bath’s Tale, I’m honestly not too sure what to make of
it. At first I thought it was good that the women were punishing the lusty
knight for raping the woman, but by the end of the tale he’s basically gotten everything
he wanted just by whining about his wife being ugly. I suppose my main question
here is: Did he really learn his lesson? It seems by the end that he might
have, but he also just kind of whined until she gave him the question, to which
he couldn’t answer and just forfeited.
Conversely, I did appreciate that the
women in the story did have a strong central focus and were consulted for the
major decisions. King Arthur obeying his wife’s counsel is obvious
foreshadowing to what would be the answer to the queen’s question. I think
because of the main role that women play in this story, the Wife of Bath’s role
as a proto-feminist does begin to shine through and the story speaks volumes to
the type of person she is. The control that she has over all of the husbands
she has had is a perfect example of the desire to be in charge that answers the
queen’s question.
So while I think that it’s good that
women took a central role, and the Wife of Bath is definitely making a point of
telling a story that is relevant to her life, I’m still not 100% sold on the
ending. It’s good that there was a nice tied ribbon of a happy ending, but
should the knight have gotten what he wanted? The tale begins with him raping a
woman and ends with him married a woman that is both beautiful and good. I know
that the setting is an important factor here, but I definitely don’t believe
this guy deserves a happy ending. He stays shitty until he decides to leave one
decision up to her and she magically becomes great and – big shocker here – he’s
suddenly happy because beauty is only skin deep. The woman already seemed good,
so the personality was there. She just had to look better before he would
accept that they were married.
Zack,
ReplyDeleteThe second comment you made--where King Arthur listens and ultimately obeys the Queen's suggestion on sparing the knight--was really a great point, which I had not thought of. It is an excellent example of what the Wife of Bath stands for. With the Queen having that position of power in her relationship, I wonder why she felt it was necessary to send the knight to find what woman want, since she has what other women want. Even though she did not protest when the Knight returned with his answer, it is odd to me that she would agree that all woman want that. Why want what you already have? Perhaps she wants this for all woman and that they should feel what she feels. I'm not sure.
Zack,
ReplyDeleteI too am struggling to decide whether or not I like the ending. Like you said, is it too much of a "nice tied ribbon of a happy ending?" I will admit that I'm a sucker for a romance and a happy ending, but in this situation I don't think I would agree. The Knight is ultimately getting rewarded for raping a woman. His "punishment" was a year and a day journey to find the answer to a question. He found the answer and married an old hag who turned into a beautiful young woman. I do not feel any sense of remorse for him. Rape is not something to be taken lightly in the slightest, and I feel that by the "punishments" the Knight received, he never fully understood that what he did was wrong.