tale of florent
...woman. Florent returns to his castle at night and has a nighttime wedding hoping no one will see his ugly bride. While they lie naked in bed, the old woman urges Florent to be a good husband, but he is disgusted by her. When he does turn to face her, he finds a lovely young woman in her place. She asks him if he wants her to be lovely by day and ugly by night, or vice versa. He gives her the choice and it releases her form the spell cast upon her by her evil stepmother. She has gained sovereignty of the most reputable knight and they live a long, happy live with one another. In “The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell,” King Arthur is given a year to come up with the answer to the question of what women love best or Sir Gromer Somer Joure will behead him. Sir Gawain is a noble knight who agrees to help his king find the correct answer. After eleven months, King Arthur and Sir Gawain still don’t have the correct answer to the question. Arthur goes into the forest at Ingleswood where he encounters Dame Ragnell. She is also a hideous woman, but agrees to give Arthur the correct answer if he promises to give Sir Gawain as her bridegroom. Sir Gawain does not hesitate to help his king and agrees to wed Dame Ragnell. She tells Arthur what women love most is to have sovereignty over men. After the knight spares Arthur’s life, Dame Ragnell insists on marrying Sir Gawain in a large public ceremony. When she and Sir Gawain lie in bed together, she asks him to show her some courtesy by kissing her. When Sir Gawain turns to kiss her he finds a lovely young woman. She asks him if he wants her to be lovely during the days but ugly at night, or vice versa. When Sir Gawain tells her to decide, the spell cast upon her by her evil stepmother is broken because the finest man in England has yielded sovereignty to her. Dame Ragnell promises to be obedient to Sir Gawain and never argue with him. They have a son together and live happily for five years before Dame Ragnell dies. By reading the summaries of the two tales, it is apparent what details are similar and what differs between them. Chaucer’s version of the tale, as told by the Wife of Bath, is yet another version of this familiar tale. In the Wife’s tale, one of Arthur’s knights rapes a young maiden. He is to be beheaded for his crime when the queen and other ladies of the court ask the king to grant him one chance to save his life. The king agrees and the queen states that the knight’s life will be spared if he can find the correct answer to the question of what women want most in the world. The knight roams the country and receives a myriad of different answers. As his judgment day draws near, the sorrowful knight heads for home. He rides near a forest and sees a group of women dancing and approaches them. As he approaches, the group disappears and is replaced by an ugly old woman. The knight tells the woman of his predicament and she says she will give him t...