The Wife of Bath was an anti-feminist that opposed single marriages. Although one would imagine the Wife of Bath to be ashamed of her way of life, she simply is not. She is actually very proud of what she has accomplished in life. With her four dead ex-husbands, she has received plenty of money and valuables. Married now to her fifth husband who is much younger, not because of his wealth, but because she has true love for him. Her basic method of thinking is that if God did not want one to have sex, he would not have given the human race the ability to do so. She admits that she is not perfect. She asks the question of " What is the purpose of the sex organs?" In her eyes they were made only for functional purposes and for sexual pleasure.
The Wife of Bath is proud of her lifestyle and will go to great lengths to defend it.
From the first page of Canterbury Tales: The Wife ...
Wife of Bath in the Ellesmere manuscript
Rosa 'Wife of Bath', Austin 1969She claims biblical support for her views on marriage. She conveniently edits the stories of the bible to suit her purposes, and ignores the bible when it proves difficult to gloss in her favor. She knew how to manipulate her husbands by withholding sex until she got what she wanted. Her behavior is a demonstration of all the anti-feminist accusations that she falsely claims her husband(s) of leveling to her. However, the Wife of Bath takes pride in her faults and women like her who are able to deceive their husbands. After what the Wife of Bath said and done, it is probable that she committed adultery. She was unable to refuse her Venus chamber to a good fellow. If this is true, it makes her a hypocrite. She later manages to say that a marriage can be...