Canterbury Tales paper

Grant Regillo

D Block

Mr. O’Brien

November 5, 2013

            Within Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, “The Wife Of Bath’s Tale” provides a platform for Chaucer to acknowledge and address the issue of marriage and the double standards that surround it through the use of satire. The protagonist in “The Wife Of Bath’s Tale” is the wife, a middle age, single woman who has been married five times. Her multiple marriages and attitude towards marriage leave her defending herself on the issue of marriage throughout her tale. The wife’s arguments and stance on marriage express Chaucer’s recognition and discomfort with the social standards that surround women and marriage, specifically the double standards and the perceived difference between a man and a woman who have been married more than once.

            In the context of the tale, the wife’s circumstance of five marriages conjures an immoral sentiment from the rest of the group. While the wife acknowledges the rarity of her circumstance and the lack of support her personal view may garner, she does not feel as though she is in the wrong.  While it may be one of her more simplistic arguments, the wife states, “Wedding’s no sin, so far as I can learn” (Chaucer 260).  In this statement the wife addresses the religious element to marriage and the fact that she is within her right to marry and marry more than once.  The nature of the wife’s marriages is important to note, relevant to her position on marriage and opens her circumstance wider than just the double standard involving the number of marriages deemed socially acceptable. Three of the wife’s five marriages were to men substantially older than herself while only two were to men her own age.  While this issue is not developed or directly satirized by Chaucer, it is important to note that three of the wife’s marriages were not for love but for money.  This context helps to identify some of the backlash that the wife receives while she regales the group with the tale of her marriages. In addition, these circumstances help form the view the wife holds on marriage and the acceptable nature to marry multiple times.

            Chaucer’s satire of the double standards plaguing marriage, specifically the perceived difference between a man and a woman who have been married more than once, spawns from yet another religious parallel.  The wife states, “I know that Abraham was a holy man and Jacob too – I speak as best is can – Yet each of them, we know, had several brides, like many another holy man besides” (Chaucer 260). This passage illustrates the lack of consistency in the social acceptance of multiple marriages for men and women. The wife makes a valid point questioning why it is acceptable for men to have multiple brides by unacceptable for her to have multiple husbands. 

            Chaucer’s personal life and singular marriage to one woman raises the question if Chaucer believes in multiple marriages.  His writing and characters throughout The Canterbury Tales belittle and criticize marriage yet he himself was married and when his wife passed, he did not remarry. Whether or not Chaucer himself agreed or disagreed with the social standards of marriage, he acknowledges them and accepts that there are areas lacking consistency and a double standard plaguing marriage.

            Marriage today is still prevalent and those same double standards and inconsistencies still exist but the wife from Chaucer’s “The Wife Of Bath’s Tale” today would fit in.  The trend surrounding the age a person gets married in the United States is getting older.  The average age a person first marries is “now at 27 for women and 29 for men, both historic highs” (Douthat 1). This trend connects directly to the economic advantages of waiting to get married. This trend relates directly to The Canterbury Tales as the wife is middle aged (in the context of the book) and looking for a suitor, something that is becoming increasingly common in today’s world.

Works Cited

Douthat, Ross. "Late Marriage and Its Consequences." New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2013. <http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/late-marriage-and-its-consequences/>.

Pollard, A. W. "Geoffrey Chaucer."
 Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Ed., vol. VI.
 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910. 17-22.