THE WIFE OF BATH
The wife bath is perhaps the most elegant interesting and captivating character of the prologue. she is a true representative of the upper class having a secular way of leaving, though pretending to be a bit religious. Chaucer as usual has treated her in an ironical and mild satirical manner. though he glorifies her outwardly yet inwardly the poet has rebuked her. she is our woman having all secular and materialistic tastes and is also a good pretender like Prioress. she is a proud and showy woman posing to be very conscious about her. Her lovemaking and marriage making has been exposed artistically showing the indecent and vulgar approach of the upper class. she is a typical representative of those women who are least interested in domestic affairs and more in worldly pursuits. she is a combination of ugly features and shrewish qualities. typifying some primary instincts of women. she is a lady without inhibition standing for women’s sovereignty. she always manages to escape humdrum domesticity and deliberately avoids following submissively the wishes of her husband. she loves gossip, the company of men and therefore never stayed at home with her husband. in short, the contrast between the religious observance and profane impulse in her character gives rise to irony in her portrait.
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Conclusion:
It could be concluded that the character of the wife of bath had brought Laurels to the art and skill of Chaucer’s Characterization. The character clearly highlights the frivolous nature of the upper class of their time which along with the church was responsible for the corruption and malpractices in the society. these were the people who compelled the poets to pick up the pen in order to reform society. Chaucer uses irony, satire while alluding to the elements of falsehood. Though she is presented as an individual character, yet some of her personal traits make her a typical human being but at the same time, the complex amalgamation of drivers’ ingredients in her character with her mind which is as sharp as a razor blade make her an interesting character. in short, the wife of bath through an ageing, worldly, vulgar and amorous figure yet all the traits of her character are worth mentioning.