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The Wife of Bath, Dame Alice is quite a spiteful woman even though she
desires only a few simple things in life; power and control. Through her
prologue and tale, she makes mirror images of herself , which reflects the
person who she really is. Dame Alice desires the obvious in life, but what she
most desires above all is being more powerful than her man, her spouse, and her
lover. In a relationship, she wishes to be dominant, the one who has the last to
say, the one who has control over all things in the relationship. This can be
first seen in her prologue, I'll have a husband yet who shall be both my debtor
and my slave and bear his tribulation to the grave upon his flesh, as long as
I'm his wife. For mine shall be the power all his life over his proper body, and
not he…(55-59). It is then shown again in her tale when knight returns the
castle and fulfills the task assigned by the queen, a woman wants the self-same
sovereignty over her husband as over her lover, and master him; he must not be
above her (174-176). Yet another example of Dame Alice's wish to be dominant is
presented later in the tale told by her.
The old hag, after marrying the knight,
gives him a choice. It was either to have her old and ugly but faithful or young
and pretty but wonder off. You have two choices; which one will you try? To have
me old and ugly till I die, but still loyal, true, and humble wife that will
never displease you all her life, or would you rather I were young and pretty
and chance your arm what happens in the city where friends will visit you
because of me, yes, and on other places too, maybe.(309-316) By comparing the
Wife of Bath's prologue to her tale, it is quite obvious that Dame Alice wants
to be the old hag. In some aspects, Dame Alice can be said to be jealous of the
old hag. After all, the hag was given power and dominance over her husband. In
Dame Alice's true life it was not completely true. The husbands that Dame Alice
had, three of them were good and two were bad. (92) The three that she had were
called 'good' because they were rich and old…(93) Dame Alice had complete
control over them. But for her fourth and fifth husband, there was another
story. The fourth one cheated on her and the fifth one, Johnny, she loved most,
the one I took for love and not for wealth…(339) And it is because she loved him
so that she gave up everything to Johnny. I handed him the money, lands, and all
that ever had been given me before; this I repented later. . .(401-403) From
this it can be seen that Johnny had the upper hand. And of course, this is not
what Dame Alice desire.
However, in her tale, the old hag has the power in the
relationship. She is given the choice of what to do and when to do it, you make
the choice yourself…(322). Dame Alice had the option of choosing taken away from
her when she gave everything to Johnny. The major similarity between Dame Alice
and the old hag is the appearance. Both Dame Alice and the hag are not very
attractive and both are old. Dame Alice is describes herself as I was forty
then, to tell the truth. But still, I always had a coltish tooth. Yes, I'm gap
toothed; it suits me well…(394-396). The old hag is described by the knight in
the tale as old, and so abnomably plain, so poor to start with, so low-bred to
follow…(236-237). The old hag is then described as being old and fouler then a
fen(303). After Dame Alice's tale is told, it is simple to see that all she
wants is what every woman wants in a relationship, the self-same sovereignty
over her husband as over her lover, and master him; he must not be above
her.(175,tale) And it is because of this desire for power that Dame Alice has
created the old hag, whom she identifies with. Dame Alice wishes that even if
she is ugly, as the hag is, she can have the power that the old hag which was
given to her by the knight. My lady and my love, my dearest wife, I leave the
matter to your wise decision.(320) Dame Alice wishes that she can be given the
power from her partner to make decisions and the choices and not have those
taken away from her. You make the choice yourself, for the provision of what may
be agreeable and rich in honour to us both, I don't care which; whatever pleases
you suffices me. (322-325)
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