Husband And Wife example essay topic

443 words
Throughout the prologue, the Wife of Bath continuously defends her lifestyle. She begins by defending the fact that she has been married five times, using references to the Bible as a defense. She points out that men in the Bible often had more than one wife, so how can one fault her on having five husbands. She points out that no one has ever told her how many husbands the Bible allows, so therefore she has made up her own mind about it. She says that God has never forbid marriage. She puts down virginity, saying that God gave her gifts to use and she will use them well.

The Wife admits that she used sex to trick her husbands, as she sometimes refused to give herself to them until she got what she wanted. She even goes as far to say that her husband can have sex whenever he desires provided that she can do whatever she wants, whenever she wants to do it. She explains that she has given all of her husband's severe pain, but she is not sorrowful. It seems she view this as a fact of marriage that cannot be avoided. She says she wasn't even sad when her fourth husband, because she already had another husband lined up. However, when she tells the story of her fifth marriage, she begins by saying that all women want what they cannot have.

Her fifth husband played mind games with her, leaving her wanting him more and more. She says he is the only one she truly loved. I think that her description of her fifth husband shows that the Wife was not all bad. Perhaps, she just didn't understand what love could be and that is why she was so forceful with her other husbands. It seems to me that the Wife of Bath could be the first feminist in English literature. However, I do think that her life story may be a little extreme at times.

Also, it must be taken into consideration that the tale was written by a man. Even if she wasn't the first feminist, I don't believe she was just awful. I would have to say that she is typical of women today who do not want to be ruled over. She fought back until she made a discovery in her fifth marriage. I think she learned that a marriage doesn't need to be ruled by one or the other - it can be a partnership that benefits both husband and wife.