The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale Poverty Quotes

Just as she has sought to detach the origin of gentility from one's ancestry, the lady here attempts to detach it from one's wealth. This part of her discussion on gentility provides a transition into the next section of her speech, a defense of poverty.

The lady's point that Jesus chose to live a life of poverty, therefore it is not a dishonorable lifestyle, is well taken. However, her argument here is a little bit weak; just because Jesus chose a life of poverty does not necessarily make a poor woman a desirable marriage partner for a man, which is what the lady is kind of implying.

By saying poverty is honest, the lady probably means that there's no dishonor in it. It's less clear what she means by "glad" poverty; perhaps poverty endured without bitterness? The implication may be that it would be dishonorable to be bitter about one's poverty because that would be raging against the fate chosen for you by God. The idea that God had ordained for some people to be poor and they ought not to struggle against it was a popular one at this time period.

This passage is a continuation on the 'happy poverty' theme, the idea being that a person who's content in his poverty is better off than a wealthy person who covets things he cannot have. The implication here is that contentment or happiness is the ultimate 'possession,' adding so immeasurably to a person's wealth that it can make a poor person 'rich.'

The lady says that poverty 'sings' because of all the good things she claims come with it. Notice that all of these good things are very abstract, however: contentment, freedom from fear, knowledge of friends and enemies. No mention does the lady make of very basic things, like nutrition and health care, that people in poverty lack.

Here the lady's point seems to be that those in poverty cannot remain idle, because they must work to put food on the table. It's less clear why poverty amends wisdom, unless it's simply by teaching patience.

Here's another variation on the 'poverty is actually wealth' theme. This one plays upon the way people possess poverty as a characteristic of their lifestyle, but of course no one wants to take it away from them.

This maxim draws upon a Christian idea that material possessions get in the way of one's communion with God. To be close to God, you must desire him above all else, but material possessions are things that distract your desire from God because you become too attached to them. Perhaps they also distract you from truly knowing yourself because you become unable to separate yourself from your possessions.

Here the lady is using "spectacle" in the sense of eyeglass. She's saying that a man can assess who his friends are by paying attention to who helps him in his time of financial need. She may also be playing upon spectacle's meaning as something that draws people's attention.