The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue Power Quotes Page 2
Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
| Quote #4 As help me God, I laughe whan I thynke |
The Wife's reference to how she made her husbands "swynke," or work very hard, recalls her earlier intention to have a husband who is a thrall, or slave. The slave-labor she wishes to extract from him is sexual.
| Quote #5 But sith I hadde hem hoolly in myn hond, |
Here the Wife reveals how control over material possessions, like land, leads to power in a relationship. When she has this control, she has no need to try to please her husband. This statement raises a chicken-or-egg question, though, about which comes first: does power come from control of material wealth, or does a woman gain control over material wealth because she has power over husband?
| Quote #6 I governed hem so wel after my lawe |
The Wife's assertion that she "governed" her husband "after my lawe" subtly references the medieval notion that a husband should rule his household and wife the way a king rules his lands and people. Of course, this version of household government sets that notion on its head, with the wife taking on the role of king.
