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The Wife of Bath Group Activity Sheet

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The Wife of Bath: Who Is She Really?

In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer’s Wife of Bath mixes bold claims, personal confessions, moral preaching, and contradictions. Your group will defend one clear position about who she “really” is, using full quotes from the text.

Group 1 – She’s a Victim of Circumstances

Thesis: Social and marital constraints shaped her life. Her cunning is survival, not malice; deep down, she values kindness and trust.

Quote 1

I was twelve yeer of age, I was y-wedded;
And old was he that I to him was given,
But sith I hadde hem hoolly in myn hond
And sith that they hadde me yiven al hir lond,
Thus sholde ye speke and bere hem wrong on honde;
For half so boldely can ther no man
Swere and lyen as a womman can. (597–603)

Quote 2

But atte laste, with muchel care and wo,
We fille accorded by us selven two;
He yaf me al the brydel in myn hond,
To han the governance of hous and lond,
And of his tonge and of his hand also;
And made him brenne his book anon right tho.
And whan that I hadde geten unto me
By maistrie al the soveraynetee,
And that he seyde, ‘Myn owene trewe wyf,
Do as thee lust the terme of al thy lyf,
’Keep thyn honour, and keep eek myn estaat—
After that day we hadden never debaat.
God help me so, I was to him as kinde
As any wyf from Denmark unto Ynde,
And also trewe. (813–827)

Group 2 – She’s Not a True Christian

Thesis: Her pride, indulgence, and manipulation contradict the virtues she sometimes preaches.

Quote 1

Looke who that is moost vertuous alway,
Pryvee and apert, and moost entendeth ay
To do the gentil dedes that he kan;
Taak hym for the gretteste gentil man.
Crist wole, we clayme of hym our gentillesse,
Nat of our eldres for hir old richesse.
For thogh they yeve us al hir heritage,
For which we clayme to been of heigh parage,
Yet may they nat biquethe, for no-thing,
To noon of us hir vertuous living,
That made hem gentil men y-called be,
And bad us folwe hem in swich degree. (1113–1124)

Quote 2

Thus shal ye speke and bere hem wrong on honde;
For half so boldely can ther no man
Swere and lyen as a womman can.
I sey nat this by wyves that ben wyse,
But if it be whan they hem misavyse.
And whan that I had maistrie in the hous,
I hadde the bettre in ech degree,
By sleighte, or force, or by some maner thing,
As by continuel murmur or grucching;
Namely a-bedde hadden they meschaunce,
Ther wolde I chide and do hem no plesaunce. (603–613)

Group 3 – She’s Belligerent and Power-Hungry

Thesis: She seeks sovereignty over men for its own sake. Her dominance is about control, not justice.

Quote 1

Experience, though noon auctoritee
Were in this world, is right y-nough for me
To speke of wo that is in mariage;
For, lordynges, sith I twelf yeer was of age,
Thonked be God that is eterne on lyve,
Housbondes at chirche dore I have had fyve—
If I so ofte myghte han wedded be—
And alle were worthy men in hir degree.
But me was toold, certein, nat longe agoon is,
That sith that Crist ne wente never but ones
To wedding, in the Cane of Galilee,
That by the same ensample taughte he me
That I ne sholde wedded be but ones. (1–13)

Quote 2

And whan that I hadde geten unto me
By maistrie al the soveraynetee,
And that he seyde, ‘Myn owene trewe wyf,
Do as thee lust the terme of al thy lyf,’
Keep thyn honour, and keep eek myn estaat—
After that day we hadden never debaat. (823–828)

Group 4 – She’s Complex and Contradictory

Thesis: She is a deliberate mix of warmth, cynicism, hypocrisy, and insight — a reflection of real human nature.

Quote 1

Who peyntede the leon, tel me who?
By God, if wommen hadde writen stories,
As clerkes han withinne hir oratories,
They wolde han writen of men moore wikkednesse
Than al the mark of Adam may redresse. (692–696)

Quote 2

And eek I praye Jhesu shorte hir lyves
That wol nat be governed by hir wyves;
And olde and angry nygardes of dispence,
God sende hem soone verray pestilence! (1261–1264)

Instructions

Read your group’s quotes closely. Your group has been given two anchor quotes to start. Use both anchor quotes in your presentation. Then, find one more quote from the text that supports your position or challenges another group’s stance. Be ready to explain why you chose it.

Prepare a 3-minute argument:

  • Opening: State your group’s thesis clearly
  • Evidence: Present your strongest textual examples
  • Analysis: Explain how your evidence supports your position
  • Conclusion: Address potential objections
  • Each group gets 1 minute to challenge another group’s interpretation with specific questions.

⠀

Take-Home Written Version

Write a 500–700 word essay defending one of the four positions above.

  • Use both quotes provided for your chosen group.
  • You may add one more quote from the text for extra support.
  • Include intro, body paragraphs, conclusion.
  • Imagine what another group might present as a counterargument and respond to it.