The Wife of Bath is Just Looking for Mr. Right
power. Judith gives her the ultimate power. “Then have I got of you the mastery, Since I may choose and govern you in earnest?” However, it is not the power that she truly wants, it is the acknowledgment of that power that is important. For once the knight allows her to choose his fate, to either live with a faithful hag or an unfaithful beauty, the hag has already won the battle and the decision is unimportant. It was the knight’s submission that was the crux of the story and once he submits fully to the hag, she lets him have both beauty and fidelity. This situation mirrored the incident that Judith had with her fifth husband who used to beat her. Once she played dead and he felt guilty, he threw his book in the fire and submitted to her permanently. She had finally gained power over him, the one man she had loved. Just as the hag gained power over the one man she truly loved. The hag took the submission as a sign of love because the knight acknowledged her power, just as Judith felt more loved by her husband when he finally submitted to her.
The Wife of Bath is a modern story that all of us know well even if we have not read The Canterbury Tales. Judith is an average looking woman who uses her body to get what she wants, but it leaves her unfulfilled as she realizes through her tale that she is actually seeking respect and genuine love. Unfortunately, Judith has not yet found a husband who loves her for her and so she continues to search for a husband by dressing flamboyantly and virtually advertising her services, in hopes of snagging the next winner. The hag is simply a representation of the inner Judith who longs to be married to a man of high stature without having to ensnare him with sex. She will not care that her next man is flawed in some way because she expects it. Judith simply longs for a fairy tale ending, just as modern women continue their search for Mr. Right, a white picket fence and 2.5 kids. The hag found her knight in dull armor, the rest of us are still searching.
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