The Wife of Bath

By Geoffrey Chaucer

The Wyves Tale of Bathe and prologue are among the best-known of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. They give insight into the role of women in the Late Middle Ages and are probably of interest to Chaucer himself, for the character is one of his most developed ones, with her prologue twice as long as her tale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Release date: Nov 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781625581198

Geoffrey Chaucer

Often referred to as the father of English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer was a fourteenth-century philosopher, alchemist, astrologer, bureaucrat, diplomat, and author of many significant poems. Chaucer’s writing was influential in English literary tradition, as it introduced new rhyming schemes and helped develop the vernacular tradition—the use of everyday English—rather than the literary French and Latin, which were common in written works of the time. Chaucer’s best-known—and most imitated—works include The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, The Book of the Duchess, and The House of Fame.

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The Wife of Bath

By Geoffrey Chaucer

Start Publishing LLC

Copyright © 2012 by Start Publishing LLC

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

First Start Publishing eBook edition October 2012

Start Publishing is a registered trademark of Start Publishing LLC

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 978-1-62558-119-8

Table of Contents

Prologe

Tale

The Prologue

Experience, though none authority authoritative texts

Were in this world, is right enough for me

To speak of woe that is in marriage:

For, lordings, since I twelve year was of age,

(Thanked be God that is etern on live), lives eternally

Husbands at the church door have I had five,

For I so often have y-wedded be,

And all were worthy men in their degree.

But me was told, not longe time gone is

That sithen Christe went never but ones since

To wedding, in the Cane of Galilee, Cana

That by that ilk example taught he me, same

That I not wedded shoulde be but once.

Lo, hearken eke a sharp word for the nonce, occasion

Beside a welle Jesus, God and man,

Spake in reproof of the Samaritan:

Thou hast y-had five husbandes, said he;

"And thilke man, that now hath wedded thee, that

Is not thine husband:" thus said he certain;

What that he meant thereby, I cannot sayn.

But that I aske, why the fifthe man

Was not husband to the Samaritan?

How many might she have in marriage?

Yet heard I never tellen in mine age in my life

Upon this number definitioun.

Men may divine, and glosen up and down; comment

But well I wot, express without a lie,

God bade us for to wax and multiply;

That gentle text can I well understand.

Eke well I wot, he said, that mine husband

Should leave father and mother, and take to me;

But of no number mention made he,

Of bigamy or of octogamy;

Why then should men speak of it villainy? as if it were a disgrace

Lo here, the wise king Dan Solomon, Lord

I trow that he had wives more than one;

As would to God it lawful were to me

To be refreshed half so oft as he!

What gift of God had he for all his wives? special favour, licence

No man hath such, that in this world alive is.

God wot, this noble king, as to my wit, as I understand

The first night had many a merry fit

With each of them, so well was him on live. so well he lived

Blessed be God that I have wedded five!

Welcome the sixth whenever that he shall.

For since I will not keep me chaste in all,

When mine husband is from the world y-gone,

Some Christian man shall wedde me anon.

For then th’ apostle saith that I am free

To wed, a’ God’s half, where it liketh me. on God’s part

He saith, that to be wedded is no sin;

Better is to be wedded than to brin. burn

What recketh

Reviews for The Wife of Bath

[aulsmith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have several editions of the Wyf of Bathe, but my favorite is the Bellerophon coloring book. It has the Prologue and tale in Middle English, accompanied by line drawings to color done by Gregory Irons. The pictures include the rape scene, which was probably a first for coloring books.

[karl6steel · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

No doubt great in its time, but now obsolete, at least for a grad class, and I suppose that's a good thing. Not a bad thing to have on hand for the instructor, but there's little in the introductions that can't be covered--in an updated form!--in lecture, and there's enough on the WoB, and enough lists of essays, that the instructor can readily compensate for not having the special-for-this-volume Patterson, Leicester, &c at hand. I recommend teaching the Ashton in the Oxford Chaucer Guide.

Useful for its edition of the material, all based on Hengwrt.

[sasham-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sexual politics, religion and history - interesting and easy to read but could use a few explanatory notes on some of the religious / historical references.

[jontseng · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Who said dirty novels started with Lady Chatterly?

[thecrow2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Despite the old style prose this story form the Canterbury Tales can be read as a progressive even feminist tale from the XIV.c.