1.

I do not think the Wife really means it when she says please dont be offended at
my views;/Theyre really only offered to amuse at the beginning of her Prologue.
I think she truly believes her views on marriage are correct. Her purpose in this
long speech is to educate the gentlemen on the topic of marriage from her
experiences.
2. From the Wifes point of view, a good husband should be a slave to his wife,
giving up all of his wealth, power and control to her. He should also love his wife
well and remain true to her until he dies. She keeps him that way by always
making him believe he is wrong and misinformed.
3. The Wife went out while her fourth husband was away in London on business to
visit Johnny, the boy from Oxford. She was setting things up for her fifth
marriage, should her fourth die and she become a widow again. I think she is
currently traveling to Canterbury for the same reason, and that is to look for her
next husband.
4. The fifth husbands book takes the view that women are wicked, are the cause of
distress for all mankind, and cause nothing but problems for men. The book
argues its cause by saying that Eves wickedness brought distress and sorrow to
all mankind and was the cause of Jesus death, by saying how a woman betrayed
Sampson by cutting his hair and causing him to go blind, and by saying that a
woman tricked Hercules into setting himself on fire. The Wife defeats the book by
tearing out three pages of the book, and struggling with the husband, who in turn,
fell into the fire. In his rage, he hit her, and she was badly hurt. She manipulated
him into believing he almost killed her, and he swore he would never hit her

again. He then gave her all of his wealth and power to make amends, and she
made him burn the book.
5. The story the Wife tells fits her personality and attitude in the answer to the
question of what women most desire. The answer was that women want power
over their husbands, to be his master and be above him, which were the Wifes
exact views on marriage. In addition, the knights solution to the problem of his
old wife was for her to choose what he should do, which was also the Wifes view
of being the master and in control of the marriage.
6. The old woman speaks as if she was the Wife of Bath when she says And have I
won the mastery in line 316, and may Christ Jesus send/Us husbands meek and
young and fresh in bed in lines 338-339, And grace to overbid them when we
wed in line 340, and cut short the lives/ Of those who wont be governed by
their wives in lines 341-342.
7. I find myself more inclined to dislike the Wife of Bath because she is very
controlling and manipulative. She is only interested in obtaining wealth and
power over her husbands. She is self centered and doesnt care about anyone but
herself.