The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale Principles Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
| Quote #1 But for ye speken of swich gentillesse |
"Gentillesse" refers to the concept of a sort of nobility of spirit through which a person lives a virtuous life of steadfastness, chivalry, and the fulfilling of obligations.
| Quote #2 Looke who that is moost vertuous alway, |
The Wife of Bath is arguing that a person ought to be considered "gentil" because of their actions, and not because of some accident of birth. To those of us who have grown up in a society that pays lip service to the equality of all mankind, the concept that rich or poor could possess "gentilesse" does not seem so revolutionary. But for people who also believed in the divine right of kings to rule, it might be.
| Quote #3 Crist wole we clayme of him oure gentillesse, |
Here the lady begins her exploration of gentility's origin. By claiming it originates with Christ, she aligns herself with theologians like Augustine, a late classical thinker who claimed that all good things were an emanation of God.
