Fabiane Freitas
British Literature
Mr. Conole
9/18/15
Wife of Bath’s Tale; Breton Lais or Arthurian Romance The Wife of Bath’s Tale is one of the most famous tale by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which it discusses women issues in the medieval time. Indecent and strong willed, the wife of Bath refuses to allow men to control her existence by taking measures to shape her own destiny; she tells men what to do instead of letting them have the control in the relationship. The wife is often viewed as a feminist because she ignores the rules and makes people think about the roles women play in society. Although many readers might think the Wife of Bath's Tale is an Arthurian Romance, it is more accurately described as a Breton Lais. Early in the tale the reader learns that, “There was a knight who was lusty live / One day as he came riding from the river / He saw a maiden walking all forlorn / Ahead of him, alone as she was born, / And of that maiden, spite of all she said, / By very force he took her maidenhead” (Chaucer 141). The knight rapes the virgin early in the tale and is a central figure throughout the entire story, thus making him a clear candidate for the protagonist. Although one might think that the knight is the protagonist Goucher College suggests that, “The protagonist could be male or female, which is rare in romances, where the protagonist almost always is male” (Breton 1). The old woman in the tale illustrates this point. She enters the tale when the knight approaches her on his way back to the queen and her court. She addresses the knights and says, “ ‘Sir knight there’s no way on from here / Tell me what you are looking for, my dear / For peradventure that were best for you / We old, old women know a thing or two’ ” (Chaucer 144). When the old lady enters the tale she ultimately provides the internal conflict in the story and there really