The Wife of Bath symbolizes a character of lust and adventure, presenting herself in a sultry “bold” way. “That art the olde daunce” is the best symbolic paraphase to describe her. She is an interesting read and her untraditional actions make for an exciting descriptive analysis.
The “Art the Olde Daunce” can be translated fairly easy, the words are cognates to the new english standard, art does mean the skill of something, a branch of what the common definition of art means today. Old derives from Old English “ald” to Middle’s “olde” to the New “Old”. The origin for the word “dance” is uncertain, although french influence in arts is the most likely founder of the word. (dictionary.com, n.d)
The prologue hints at many types of suggestive love …show more content…
She is a lustful women full of narcissism and materialistic value. The women wears clothes self-embroidered to attract men, similar to the mating call and looks of a male peacock. The analysis of the Wife of Bath on Cliffnote’s “Character Analysis The Wife of Bath” describes the Wife’s personification as “the forerunner of the modern liberated woman, and she is the prototype of a certain female figure that often appears in later literature. Above all, she is, for the unprejudiced reader” (n.d, para 1, lines …show more content…
In the introduction, both first and second hand experiences come into play with the Wife’s opinion of love. She has been married five times, each adding experience and a story in her “knightly adventure”. This is symbolized in the prologue by giving odd details from the wife’s demeanor, stating “ The wife considers social status pertinent to her well being, this is why she marries wealthy men and is imperative she donates to the altar first. “Love” to the Wife of Bath, and to other women in this time period is drastically different to the pro-feminist value of love today. In this time period, love is interpreted as providing shelter and food while in return producing children. The Wife of Bath enjoys telling of her lovers, and her indulgences (including men) are much more demanding than a normal woman of a lower class would demand, and shares similar ideologies to the present day