The Wife of bath

1. The Wife of bath By Brittany Palmiotto & Brianne Powalie

2. Physical Description • Big booty • Gap between her teeth • Broad Hips • Red Face • Wide “Bold was her face, handsome, and red in hue.…. She had gap – teeth, set widely, truth to say… She had a flowing mantle that concealed large hips, her heels Spurred sharply under that.” (Lines 468 – 483, Page 101)

3. Clothing & Accessories Always dresses in expensive clothes especially her velvet red stockings. The Wife wears shoes so soft, brand new leather. Her hats are as big as boats, that is her trademark. Her taste for her headgear is expensive, Chaucer estimated that her headgear weighed about 10 pounds. She always had to be wearing her red stocking wherever she went. “Her kerchiefs were of finely woven ground… Her hose were of the finest scarlet red and gartered tight; her shoes were soft and new.” (Lines463-467, Page 101)

4. Personality & Experiences When she is in company she laughs and chats very much. The Wife of Bath represents the medieval stereotype of what a lustful person looks like. She cannot control her passion for men. She becomes angry when other wives go before her at the church offering (where going first is a sign of respect given to the most highly-regarded woman in the parish), and by hinting that the Wife had numerous lovers before her five husbands. The Wife is a fun-loving type of person, ideal to have on the pilgrimages. “In company she liked to laugh and chat and knew the remedies for love’s mischances, an art in which she knew the oldest dances.” (Lines 484-486, Page 101)

5. Job She is a clothes maker and is very successful, you can say she is more well known and is used more than the clothes makers of Ypres and Ghent. Ypres and Ghent were renowned for their trade. From the money she got from her trade, she was able to buy the expensive clothes and accessories she wears. Everyone can assume she is a widow because only a widow would have the freedom to run her own business and travel on the pilgrimages to Rome, Bologna, Cologne, and Gaul. “In making cloth she showed so great a bent she bettered those of Ypres and of Ghent.” ( Lines 457 – 458, Page 101)

6. Chaucer’s comments &Social Class • The Wife’s social class was the middle class with the merchant, doctor, etc. • If you couldn’t figure it out, the Wife of Bath’s deadly sin was lust! • Yes she upholds her social class because she has more money than the lower class and she acts like she is supposed to be in the middle class. • Chaucer criticizes how giant her hats are and they weigh about ten lbs. She used her body to control her husbands

7. Citation "The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue & Frame Story Quotes." Shmoop: Homework Help, Teacher Resources, Test Prep. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. <http://www.shmoop.com/canterbury-tales-prologue/quotes.html>. "Geoffrey Chaucer The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Criticism." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. <http://www.enotes.com/wife-baths-tale-criticism/wife-baths-prologue-and-tale-geoffrey-chaucer>.