“For wel ye knowe, a lord in his household,
He nath nat every vessel al of gold;
Somme been of tree, and doon hir lord servise.”
(Line 99-101)
We also hear Alison’s details of care for her clothes, so that no moths or mites have a chance to spoil them.
“And wered upon my gaye scarlet gites
And wostow why? For they were used weel.”
(Line 559-62)
Her businesslike attitude to her initial marriages is shown several times when the Wife refers to not allowing her husbands to touch her “bel chose” unless she was granted something in exchange, and she is furious when she is not allowed to have the keys to the money chest.
“Why hiestw, with sorwe,
The keyes of thy cheste awey fro me?
It is my good as wel as thyn, pardee!”
(Line 308-310)
She concludes by informing her misguided husband that he cannot be “maister of my body and my good.”
The fact that Alison has been married and widowed so many times only to remarry implies that she was a ‘good catch’, for in the Middle Ages a wealthy widow was considered a desirable marriage partner for her money. Jankin certainly knew what he was doing by courting and marrying her, for her wealth.
Alison is a good observer of her own character – she certainly possesses a great deal of self-knowledge. She says she has two sides to her personality, drawing on her knowledge of astrology. People in the Middle Ages, including Chaucer, believed in planetary influences on character and appearance. The Wife’s passionate, sexual nature comes from Venus and her strong will from Mars. Her colouring comes from Mars (the ‘red’ planet), as does her birthmark, in a “privee place” indicating her sexual appetite, the effect of Venus. Alison is born under Taurus making her large, bold and flamboyant, with a ruddy face. Her gap-tooth is supposed to be a sign of someone with a lecherous nature, and the Wife is proud to admit to this, saying that it “bicam me weel”. It is the influence of the planets that make the Wife a passionate, feisty debater in defence of marriage and of wives.
Alison quotes varieties of sources to support what she says, including the Bible, ecclesiastical writings, from scholars and philosophers. Chaucer has allowed the Wife access to this knowledge by being married to an Oxford scholar.
Wherever Alison’s knowledge comes from she still remains to make astonishingly controversial and provocative arguments about marriage and power in the time. Alison’s arguments are not necessarily Chaucer’s own because there are often flaws in her reasoning. The choice of a housewife as a major role in literature was something that hadn’t been done before Chaucer. The Wife is a natural talker. She is not too clever and not all her arguments are convincing. She jumps from one topic to the next. She uses techniques to fight against men, fast-talking, reversing argument, literal approach and undermining the enemy.
Alison refers to her first three husbands as being old, rich and good. Alison always wanted her freedom to do what she wanted and to have affairs when she pleased. She easily outwitted her old husbands through nagging and flattery, when she pretended to be jealous.
“Yet tikled I his herte, for that he/ Wende that I hadde of him so greet chiertee.”
Alison’s fourth husband was different and had affairs. Alison, however, enjoyed the social aspects of life with dancing, singing and drinking. At this point Alison becomes sentimental and shows her more vulnerable side. Alison got her revenge by flirting with other men. Her husband died when she returned from Jerusalem and she buried him cheaply, dismissing painful memories of him.
“Lat him fare wel, God yeve his soul reste!
He is now in his grave and in his cheste”
The Wife’s fifth husband provides Alison with her most unpleasant encounter with “auctoritee”. Alison married Jankin purely for love. Jankin may have been clever but not wealthy and Alison gives him all her goods once they’re married. Jankin is “auctoritee” without “experience” and preaches to Alison from his ‘Book of Wicked Wives’. This enrages Alison and she fights with Jankin who deafens her in one ear. Jankin thinks he has killed her and gives Alison back the power and control.
The Wife has a remarkably lifelike, three dimensional personality who is not afraid of showing her vices or virtues. She is noisy, pushy and bossy. She is open about her devious nature, and is always planning tricks and schemes. She is very practical woman, capable of running a profitable business and household. She is clever, and knows how to use her knowledge of scholarly and biblical texts to put across her opinions.
Her main concerns are men, power and sex, and she is certainly attractively, wealth and looks. She is vigorous, enthusiastic and optimistic about life, showing nostalgia but not bitterness when she recalls her lost youth. She also has a warm and vulnerable side on a number of occasions. Efforts to silence her by the Pardoner and the Friar come to nothing; even Chaucer gets carried away with his talkative, outgoing creation. Whether we like the Wife or not, she certainly cannot be ignored.
