Blooms Literary Themes - THE TRICKSTER.pdf - ymerleksi - home

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Geoff rey Chaucer
the end of another romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is “the
sign of sore loss” as well as a token “taken by the Table Round” that
“honored [he who] had it” (lines 2506, 2519).
Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale takes advantage of this discrepancy,
ultimately presenting a take on the “war of the sexes” that ironizes the
quest motif at the heart of the romance. Th e Wife presents a quest for
the answer to a question. In the fi rst part of this tale, the knight must
seek the answer to a tricky question. Th e knight, a member of King
Arthur’s court, is convicted of rape. Th e law of the court demands
his head, but “the quene and othere ladies mo” [“the queen and other
ladies as well”] (Bath 900) spare his life on the condition that he can
tell them “What thing is it that wommen most desyren” [“What thing
it is that women most desire”] (911). He has a year to complete his
quest but fi nds no conclusive answer until he comes across an old
woman in the woods. She promises to give him the answer, whispering
this secret message in his ear, on the condition that he pledges to do
“Th e nexte thing that I requere thee” [“Th e next thing that I require
of thee”] (1016). Th ey return to the court, which is presided over by
the queen and fi lled with women of various stages of life: “Ful many
a noble wyf, and many a mayde,/ And many a widwe” [Very many a
noble wife, and many a maid,/ And many a widow”] (1032–1033). He
provides the correct answer, telling the queen that “Wommen desyren
to have sovereyntee” [“Women desire to have sovereignty”] (1044).
Th e court grants him freedom, ending the quest.
At this point, the old woman reveals her role and demands
that the court “do me right” [“do me justice”] (1055) by forcing the
knight to take her “unto thy wyf ” [“as thy wife”] (1061). Th e knight
resists marrying a woman so “foul and old and pore” [“ugly, and old,
and poor”] (1069) yet soon fi nds himself in bed with her after the
wedding. She doubts his virility until he reveals his obvious concerns:
She is “loothly” [“loathsome”], “so old,” and “of so low a kinde”
[“from such low-born lineage”] (1106–1107). In response, she details
the advantages of these qualities, starting with an estimation of the
Christian virtue of poverty, moving to the honor due the aged, and
concluding with the most important point, namely that her lack of
beauty means she will never betray him. Th en she off ers the knight the
choice “To hay me foul and old” [“To have me ugly and old”] (1226) or
“yong and fair” [“young and fair”] (1229). Th e knight, having learned
what women really want, tells her to “Cheseth youreself ” [“Choose