Thomas Mazzaferro
Professor Pritchett
Chaucer and the Medieval Period
14 December, 2018
The Power of Sovereignty
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told from many perspectives of the Middle Ages. The Tales reveal so much about, not only the time period in which they take place, but the types of people telling these stories. Geoffrey Chaucer makes use of satire through this process. His characters unknowingly reveal their true colors, opinions, and beliefs when they share their stories. These tales often have very distorted messages, unclear morality, and strange endings. Through these Tales, Chaucer indirectly criticizes various aspects of Medieval life, through the voices of those he targets. However, not every aspect of Medieval life Chaucer pointed out was in a satirical fashion. Chaucer also wanted to expose what he believed was wrong with the society he lived in. Through “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” Chaucer is able to give women the equality and strength they deserve to overcome the iron grip men hold on their lives. Through this Tale, Chaucer’s beliefs on gender inequality shine greatly.
In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” a lusty young Knight is put on trial for recently raping a woman. This is no ordinary trial, as he is sat before the Queen and her court of noble ladies. The women are the ones who will decide his fate, and nothing is looking in the Knight’s favor. The court presents the Knight with an ultimatum; he must answer the question before him, or be sentenced to death. The question he is asked is “What do women desire most in the world?” After struggling for days to find an answer, it is eventually given to him by an older ugly woman he meets in the woods. Apparently, what women desire most in the world is “sovereynetee.” Sovereignty is defined as “control” or “absolute dominion.” Therefore, the wyf is stating that women desire control over men, and not the other way around. The Knight presents this answer to the Queen and his life is spared, however the old woman requests that the Knight marry her as payment for her aid. At the end of the story, the wyf asks the Knight if he wishes for her to be beautiful or faithful, he allows her to make the decision for herself. In this moment, the wyf decides the Knight has learned his lesson, and transforms herself into a beautiful young woman.
The “happily ever after” ending to “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” has left many critics skeptical. There are many concerns with this Tale, however the wyf’s quick decision to forgive and forget is the most prominent. In her scholarly essay titled “The Problem of Defining ‘Sovereynetee’,” the critic Susanne Sara Thomas argues that the Knight has not learned his lesson, and the wyf is simply foolish for believing so. Susanne Thomas believes that the wyf is failing to uphold her sovereignty, as the Knight is still indirectly deciding her physical form. This Knight was known as lustful and raped a beautiful young woman at the beginning of the story. His desires and motivations in life are clear, he wants a beautiful young wife.
Therefore, Thomas argues that the wyf is simply conforming to his desires when she transforms into this young woman, rather than her natural older form, which the Knight has decided is not what he wants. Thomas even explains in her essay, “The opposite of ‘sovereynetee’ the state of non-authority and non-mastery, occurs when one allows others to define for one what is desirable and valuable.” (Thomas 89) By stating that he is sad about his new ugly wife, the Knight is defining for the wyf what is truly desirable and valuable. His action of letting her decide her appearance does not matter as he has already expressed what he does not want her to be. She chooses to conform to the physical state that he would enjoy the most, so her sovereignty does not hold true.
Susanne Thomas’s argument is very acceptable because of the nature of the ending to this Tale. It is confusing, strange and unrealistic that someone as wicked as a rapist is completely forgiven, and even rewarded in the end. How is this woman displaying her control, if she is simply asking the Knight how he wants her to look? He may let her decide, but in the end she is still choosing the option he would enjoy the most. In another scholarly essay, Anne McTaggart wrestles with the Knight’s unchanging character. She states “…even after spending all that time asking women how they feel and what they desire, the newlywed Knight is led to the bedchamber no less concerned with his own needs and desires…” (54) It is clear that the rapist Knight is a static character that fails to learn any lessons, and is simply trying to make the best out of the fate he has been given.
Once it is understood that the Knight is an unlearning, unchanging character, one must find their own interpretation of the wyf’s lesson. In disagreement with Thomas and McTaggart, one could argue that the wyf is actually in more control than the average reader thinks. The wyf first displays her sovereignty as she hangs the answer over the Knight’s head. She is one of his last options as the day of his death approaches, so he is forced to rely on her here. Prior to this, the only sovereign woman in the Tale was clearly the Queen, who has the power to decide whether this Knight lives or dies. However, sovereignty is defined as “complete control” and “absolute or supreme dominion,” and the wyf actually goes on to carry out this definition better than any other character in the Tale. One of the most striking and interesting parts of this story is that the wyf has the inherent ability to shape shift. She can alter her form between an ugly old woman, and a beautiful young girl. One could argue that this is where she displays her absolute and undeniable sovereignty. As Thomas argues, the Knight has defined what is desirable to him, and the wyf must now conform to it. However, it is the wyf’s ability to conform that gives her this control over him. She has the option to decide how desirable she may be to him, and to the extent of the reader’s knowledge, she is capable of transforming at any moment. The wyf has simply allowed the Knight to show her what he finds desirable, and she is able to use that as her bait at any time. The moment this Knight fails to be an honorable husband, the wyf could potentially transform back to ugly undesirable state, thus leaving him miserable once again. She holds a complete control over their marriage and the passion he has for her, all through her appearance. This is the definition of sovereignty, and it is not displayed at this level by any other character. Although the Queen is capable of deciding life or death, the wyf is capable of altering reality in her favor. She holds a supreme power above all other women in the Tale, and holds absolute sovereignty over every aspect of her marriage.
This story can give us great insight into the beliefs and desires of the Wife of Bath. As this story is meant to come from her, there is much we can infer about her fantasies when it comes to men. She wishes to have this control over any type of man, great or evil. She longs to flip a switch and become desirable to anyone she wants. As we learned from her prologue, she has been with quite a few men and is growing older and less desirable. Chaucer could have written this story to convey the message that women have more control over men than most would believe. The men of The Canterbury Tales are instinctual, selfish, and animalistic at times. This story displays the downfall of man, and paints women in a light of superior intelligence and morality. It is an incredibly interesting look back on the path of gender equality and a glance into Chaucer’s opinions on marriage. The power struggle between the Knight and the wyf is a clear sign that sovereignty was truly prominent in marriages of the time, either from men or women, and romantic love was surely far from present.
Works Cited
McTaggart, Anne. “What Women Want? Mimesis and Gender in Chaucer’s ‘Wife of Bath’s Prologue’ and ‘Tale.’” Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture, vol. 19, 2012, pp. 41–67.
Thomas, Susanne Sara. “The Problem of Defining Sovereynetee in the Wife of Bath’s Tale.” The Chaucer Review, vol. 41 no. 1, 2006, pp. 87-97. Project MUSE
THOMAS MAZZAFERRO 