Does the Wife make a good case for marriage in the first section of the Prologue?
The Wife of Bath is quite a complex woman who had very strong opinions on marriage. She feels that she is a good woman to marry as she has been married five times and so has plenty of experience. Her case is argued using her own personal experience vs. auctoritee (written authority). She uses Biblical precedent to help explain herself clearly, and often abuses what the Bible says and teaches in support of her own case.
The Wife begins the Prologue stating that she is going to speak of, “the wo that is in marriage.” This instantly alerts us to her obvious feelings on the subject, she does not like marriage and has not had very good experiences of it, or so it seems. However this is contradicted later on when she says “Yblessed be God what I have wedded five! Welcome the sixte.” If marriage is full of so much woe then why is she thanking God for her marriage and asking for a sixth? She is giving neither a good or bad case for marriage at the point, simply leaving us wondering what her true feelings are. She also lets us know very early on that she has had five husbands, “Housbondes at the chirche dore I have had five.” The Wife is setting the foundations and showing us the experience that she has had in order that we take her argument seriously.