The Wife of Bath’s Tale Questions for study and discussion What does the knight do How is he judged and sentenced? Why isn't he executed? What must he do to save his life? Does the knight have any trouble finding answers? What's wrong with the answers he gets? Whom does the knight meet in the forest on his way home? What does he agree to do if the old woman saves his life? What answer does the knight give the Queen and her court? Have we heard this before? Is the Queen satisfied? What does the old demand? Does she get it? Why? What is the knight's reaction? What sort of wedding do they have? How does the Knight behave toward his bride that night in bed? What does he accuse her of? How does she respond to each of these charges? (She responds to her lower status, her lack of gentility or "gentilesse," to her poverty, and to her old age). How effective are her arguments? How does the old woman offer to resolve the knight's complaints? What choices does she give him? How does the knight respond? Is that the right response? What does the old woman decide to do? Have we heard it before? What happens to the old woman and how does the knight respond? Do they live happily ever after? What is the Wife of Bath's closing wish (lines 434-440)? How might we see the old woman's actions as a fantasy of the Wife of Bath? What is her point in all this, especially considered in the light of the pilgrimage’s game? To what extent does the Wife's tale seem appropriate to her character as it has been depicted? What can we infer about Chaucer's view of the Wife of Bath from the tale he has given her?
The Wife of Bath’s Tale Questions for study and discussion What does the knight do How is he judged and sentenced? Why isn't he executed? What must he do to save his life? Does the knight have any trouble finding answers? What's wrong with the answers he gets? Whom does the knight meet in the forest on his way home? What does he agree to do if the old woman saves his life? What answer does the knight give the Queen and her court? Have we heard this before? Is the Queen satisfied? What does the old demand? Does she get it? Why? What is the knight's reaction? What sort of wedding do they have? How does the Knight behave toward his bride that night in bed? What does he accuse her of? How does she respond to each of these charges? (She responds to her lower status, her lack of gentility or "gentilesse," to her poverty, and to her old age). How effective are her arguments? How does the old woman offer to resolve the knight's complaints? What choices does she give him? How does the knight respond? Is that the right response? What does the old woman decide to do? Have we heard it before? What happens to the old woman and how does the knight respond? Do they live happily ever after? What is the Wife of Bath's closing wish (lines 434-440)? How might we see the old woman's actions as a fantasy of the Wife of Bath? What is her point in all this, especially considered in the light of the pilgrimage’s game? To what extent does the Wife's tale seem appropriate to her character as it has been depicted? What can we infer about Chaucer's view of the Wife of Bath from the tale he has given her?
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