let me have an essay
...know the Wife of Bath. Through her own words, a reader is able to reinforce the assumptions made about her in the General Prologue. The Wife of Bath’s extravagance is involved in many aspects of her life. In her Prologue, a reader learns her name is Alisoun, and she establishes herself as an expert at marriage because of the numerous times she has been involved in such an institution. Since her first marriage at age twelve, Alisoun has had five husbands and is eager for a sixth. She explains that God has bid us to “wexe and multiplye,” or to procreate (45). The Wife also believes virginity should be left to people who deem themselves as perfect. She wonders why “Were members maad of generacioun, And of so parfit wis a wight ywroght?” (48). These “perfect” organs are what she uses to gain control over her husbands. Her extravagance in marriage is not limited to the numerous times she has been wed. The Wife of Bath has also experienced much throughout her three “good” marriages and two “bad” marriages. She explains that the first three marriages were good because her husbands were old, rich, and submissive. She recalls the torments she put these men through in order to gain sovereignty over them. Alisoun would sometimes accuse the husbands of having affairs and get the maid to corroborate her stories. If one of the husbands came home drunk, she would claim that he said things to her that he really had not. Thou comest hoom as drunken as a mous And prechest on thy bench. With yvel preef, Thou seist to me it is a greet meschief To wedde a poure womman, for costage (53). It was through these claims that Alisoun guilted her husbands into giving her what she wanted. Additionally, she would withhold sex from them until they promised her money. Alisoun is proud of her ability to use her verbal and sexual power to gain dominance over her older, wealthier husbands. The Wife’s two “bad” marriages were also filled with extravagant behavior. Her fourth husband was young and had a mistress while he was married to her. Alisoun was openly friendly with other men during their marriage to make him jealous and angry. Alisoun felt she was his Purgatory on earth and supposed his soul was in heaven. He died while she was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Wife’s fifth husband, Jankyn, was the only husband she married for love instead of money. Alisoun met Jankyn through a close friend while she was still married to her fourth husband. He was a poor ex-student who boarded with Alisoun’s friend. She told him that she would marry him if she was widowed, and it was not too long before her fourth husband died. Although she put on quite a show of sorrow at the funeral, she was relieved to have her fifth husband lined up. Jankyn was only twenty while she was forty, but she figured she could handle his youth. For a while, the Wife actually came to regret the age difference because she could not use her normal means of manipulation and persuasion to get what she wanted. She gave him all of her land and property that she acquired through her previous marriages, but reflected upon this decision with regret, too. Her new husband, Jankyn, did not tolerate her abuse and he abused her in return. However, he was flattering in bed and always won her back. One of the worst things he did was read aloud from a book of tales about wicked wives to torment her at night. One night, Alisoun tore three pages from the book as Jankyn read and punched him in the cheek. Jankyn responded by striking her on the head so hard she became deaf in one ear. She convinced Jankyn that he had murdered her and asks him to kiss her before she dies. “’O hastow slain me, false theef?’ I seyde, ‘And for my land thus hastow mordred me? Er I be deed yet wol I kisse thee’ (71). Jenkyn knelt down affectionately and asked for forgiveness. He stated that even though she hit him first, he would never do anything like this to Alisoun again. She punched him yet another time and the two came to a truce. Jankyn gave her his meager estate and she gave him her love and honor in return. Although she achieved it quite differently, Alisoun had won sovereignty over another one of her husbands. Although briefly stated to support Alisoun’s extravagant lifestyle, the issue of her sexuality is worthy of separate mention. Chaucer leaves no question in the General Prologue that the Wife of Bath is not an innocent, chaste woman. However, it is not until her Prologue is read that a reader gets a true sense for how important sex is in her life. It is the main tool she uses to get what she wants and is a dominant factor in shaping her personality. Because t...