group’, a discussion about the subject which moves through ‘marriage various tales and is resolved in The Franklin’s Tale. readers have doubted whether we can be so certain that Chaucer planned such a group, but there is no doubt that several of the tales close together deal with marriage. It is always a battle for dominance in Chaucer’s terms – maistrie and soveraynetee. In The Merchant’s Tale an old man marries a young wife and is cuckolded; The Clerk tells a story in which a husband subjects his wife to terrible cruelties which she suffers patiently; The Wife of Bath describes her dominance in marriage over five husbands, the last involving a terrible battle against a misogynist. For her, soveraynetee is what women most desire. Marriage in these tales is thus always about the assertion of power. One problem with this is that a power relationship seems to be incompatible with love. As Chaucer writes in The Franklin’s Tale: Love wol nat been constreyned by maistrye comth, the God of Love his wynges, and farewell, he is gon! The Franklin’s Tale, with its depiction of a marriage between equals, could certainly be read as Chaucer’s resolution of this problem. While we cannot be sure that he meant the tales to be read against each other in this way, the unified nature of The Canterbury Tales certainly allows for such readings. It is well worth reading the tales of the Merchant, Clerk and Franklin as an immediate context for the Wife. Malcolm Hebron teaches English at Winchester College. Sources Gerald Morgan, Introduction to The Franklin’s Tale (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1980), Blamires, ed., Woman Defamed and Woman Defended (Oxford: Clarendon, 1992). Anthology of relevant texts, including a translation of Against Jovinian. This article first published in emagplus 48 (April 2010)
‘marriage group’, a discussion about the subject which moves through various tales and is resolved in The Franklin’s Tale. readers have doubted whether we can be so certain that Chaucer planned such a group, but there is no doubt that several of the tales close together deal with marriage. It is always a battle for dominance – in Chaucer’s terms maistrie and soveraynetee. In The Merchant’s Tale an old man marries a young wife and is cuckolded; The Clerk tells a story in which a husband subjects his wife to terrible cruelties which she suffers patiently; The Wife of Bath describes her dominance in marriage over five husbands, the last involving a terrible battle against a misogynist. For her, soveraynetee is what women most desire. Marriage in these tales is thus always about the assertion of power. One problem with this is that a power relationship seems to be incompatible with love. As Chaucer writes in The Franklin’s Tale: Love wol nat been constreyned by maistrye comth, the God of Love his wynges, and farewell, he is gon! The Franklin’s Tale, with its depiction of a marriage between equals, could certainly be read as Chaucer’s resolution of this problem. While we cannot be sure that he meant the tales to be read against each other in this way, the unified nature of The Canterbury Tales certainly allows for such readings. It is well worth reading the tales of the Merchant, Clerk and Franklin as an immediate context for the Wife. Malcolm Hebron teaches English at Winchester College. Sources Gerald Morgan, Introduction to The Franklin’s Tale (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1980), Blamires, ed., Woman Defamed and Woman Defended (Oxford: Clarendon, 1992). Anthology of relevant texts, including a translation of Against Jovinian. This article first published in emagplus 48 (April 2010)
the_wife_of_bath_in_context.docx