The people are repulsed by the knight's behavior and demand justice. Her tale, which follows, reiterates her belief that a happy match is one in which the wife has control.ДЄ lusty young knight in King Arthur's court rapes a beautiful young maiden. From that day until the day he died, she was a true and faithful wife for him. And this is how she gained 'sovereignty' over her fifth husband. He was so upset that he promised her anything if she would live. When he bent over her, she hit him once more and again pretended to die. She fell to the floor and pretended to be dead. Unable to tolerate these stories any longer, the Wife of Bath grabbed the book and hit Jankyn so hard that he fell over backwards into the fire. One night, he began to read aloud from this collection, beginning with the story of Eve, and he read about all the unfaithful women, murderesses, prostitutes, and so on, that he could find. As soon as the honeymoon was over, she was disturbed to find that Jankyn spent all his time reading, especially from a collection of books that disparaged women. At the month's end, she and Jankyn were married, even though she was twice his age. Then she explains how she gained control over her fifth husband.ДЄt her fourth husband's funeral, she could hardly keep her eyes off a young clerk named Jankyn, whom she had already admired. Unfortunately, just at the time she gains complete mastery over one of her husbands, he dies. The Wife of Bath then relates tales about her former husbands and reveals how she was able to gain the upper hand ('sovereignty') over them.

And unlike many cold women, she has always been willing to have sex whenever her man wants to. Furthermore, sexual organs are made both for functional purposes and for pleasure. Having shown a knowledge of the Bible, she challenges anyone to show her that God commanded virginity. Paul's admonishment that it is better to marry than to burn.

To defend her position, the Wife refers to King Solomon, who had many wives, and to St. Instead, she prefers the biblical command to go forth and multiply. She sees nothing wrong with having had five husbands and cannot understand Jesus' rebuke to the woman at the well who also had five husbands. Having already had five husbands 'at the church door,' she has experience enough to make her an expert. The Wife of Bath begins her lengthy prologue by announcing that she has always followed the rule of experience rather than authority. The Sovereignty of Marriage versus the Wife's ObedienceД«efore the Wife begins her tale, she shares information about her life and her experiences in a prologue.

The old maiden hand of fate 2