The Wife then explains to her audience how she is able to turn her husbands’ accusations and arguments against them. The length of her explanations, along with the pride in which she introduces them to her audience, suggest that turning her husbands’ arguments against them were common occurrences during her marriages. The Wife claims that “A wys wyf, if that she kan hir good,/Shal bere hym an hond the cow is wood,/And take witnesse of hir owene mayde/Of hir assent;”, clearly showing that she is experienced at lying to her husbands and knows all of the tricks to get them to accept her stories, even roping her chamber maid into her web of lies. On page 34, she begins her example of how to turn her husbands’ accusations against them: “Sire olde kaynard, is this thyn array?/Why is my neghebores wyf so gay?/She is honoured overall there she goth;/I sitte at hoom, I have no thrifty cloth.” Managing to turn an accusation of fidelity into an excuse to complain that the neighbour’s wife is dressed in more fashionable clothes than her. She then goes on to say “What dostow at my neghebores hous?/Is she so fair? artow so amorous?”, by which she manages to accuse him of infidelity. Her skill at reversing the accusations suggests that this is a common occurrence in the Wife’s marriages.
The Wife then provides some insight into her husband’s personality; she claims “Thou seyst to me, it is a greet mescheef/To wedde a povre woman, for costage;/And if that she be ryche, of heigh parage,/Thane seistow that it is a tormentrye/To suffer hir pryde and hir malencolye.”, saying that her husband believes that it is too expensive to marry a poor woman but it’s too difficult to suffer the shame of marrying a rich woman. Clearly the Wife’s husband is a misogynist, and one feels that her nagging and complaining is partly justified. However, she then says “Thow seyst som folk desiren us for richesse”, contradicting her earlier complaint. The way that the Wife contradicts herself constantly gives the impression that she is a difficult person to live with.
On page 36 there is more evidence of the Wife’s husband’s misogyny. She claims “Thow seyst that dropping houses, and eke smoke,/And chiding wyves maken men flee/Out of hir owene houses;”, saying that her husband believes that leaking houses and nagging wives are the reason men flee their homes. The Wife responds to this by saying “a, benedictee!/What eyleth swich an old man for to chide?” One can imagine that heated arguments of this nature are commonplace in the Wife’s household due to the frequency they crop up in her speech; she calls her husbands offensive names no less than 10 times during her specimen argument.
On page 37 she notes that her husbands believed that she needs to be showered with compliments regarding her looks, “Thow seist also that it displeseth me/But if that thow wolt preise my beautee,/And but thow power alwey upon my face,/And clepe me ‘faire dame’ in every place”, and needs to have her birthday celebrated in lavish style or she’ll be infuriated: “And but thow make a feeste on thilke day/That I was born, and make me fresh and gay;/And but thow do to my norice honour,/And to my chambrere whitinne my bour”. If the Wife’s husbands really believed she was this superficial and shallow, it’s unsurprising that she responds with outrage: “Thus seistow, olde barrelful of lyes!” The Wife then mentions Jankyn the apprentice for the first time. She describes him in very favourable light: “For his crispe heer, shynyng as gold so fyn,/And for he squyereth me bothe up and doun”, and it’s hardly surprising that her husband questions her fidelity: “Yet hastow caught a fals suspecioun./I wil hym nat, thogh thow were deed tomorwe.” The Wife’s facetious response to her husband’s suspicions suggests that she is often accused of being unfaithful, and often behaves in a manner that invites her husband to draw such conclusions. After this there’s more evidence of the Wife’s fiery relationship with her husbands: “why hidestow, with sorwe,/The keyes of thy cheste awey fro me?/It is my good as wel as thyn pardee!” The Wife responds with outrage to the fact that her husband is refusing her access to the chest: “What, wenestow make an ydiote of oure dame? “ Her response is to refuse to have sex with her husband: “Thow shalt noght bothe, thogh that thow were wood,/Be maister of my body and my good;/That oon thow shalt forgo, maugree thyne eyen!” That the Wife gives her husband such a rudimentary ultimatum in response to her husband suggests that sex plays a significant part in their relationship and the Wife is able to use it as a weapon against her husband. She believes that her husbands can trust her: “Thow sholdest seye, ‘Wyf, go wher thee liste;/Taak youre disport, I nyl leve no talis./I knowe yow for a trewe wyf, Dame Alis.’” Her justification for this is “We love no man that taketh kepe or charge/Wher that we goon, we wol been at oure large.” However, it’s evident from the Wife’s prologue that she cannot be trusted by her husbands, and they are somewhat justified in their distrust.
On page 38 the Wife says “Thow seist also, that if we make us gay/With cothyng, and with precious array,/That it is peril of oure chastitee.” It’s evident that misogyny was rampant in the Wife’s first three marriages from this quote. Her husbands also show their patronising nature on page 39: “Thow seydest this, that I was lyk a cat;/For who so wolde senge a cattes skyn,/Thanne wolde the cat well dwellen in his in;/And if the cattes skyn be slyk and gay, she wol not dwelle in house half a day”. Saying that the Wife is sleek and fashionable, which is why she is so bold and outgoing, they go on to say: “To shewe hir skyn, and goon a caterwawed./ This is to seye, if I be gay sire shree,/I wol renne out, my borel for to shrewe.” Naturally, the Wife responds angrily to claims that she would lose her confidence and mope around the house if she weren’t dressed so fashionably: “Sire, olde foole, what helpeth thee t’espyen?/Thogh thow preye Argus with his hundred eyen/To be my warde corps as he kan best,/In feith he shal nat kepe me but me lest;/Yet koude I make his berd, as mote I thee!” With the misogynous and patronising personalities that her husbands appear to have, it’s hardly surprising that the Wife rebels in the way that she does. She even says of her husbands “Thow likenest eek wommanes love to helle,/To bareyne lond ther water may nat dwelle./Thow liknest it also to wilde fyr;/The moore it brenneth, the moore it hath desyr/To consumen every thing that brent wol be.”, which emphasises their hatred of women even further.
From these accounts from the Wife, it’s clear that she experienced heated, vitriolic relationships with her first three husbands. Faced with their misogynist attitudes and patronising treatment, the Wife rebelled and played on their hatred of women as much as she could with infidelity and the use of sex as a weapon. It is evident from her prologue that the Wife is a vivacious, colourful character, and as a hatred of women was a common feeling amongst men of the time it is unsurprising she married men so incompatible with her. If misogynistic feelings weren’t so commonplace, one can safely assume that the Wife would’ve been a far more placid character.
Jonathan Rafferty
12C