Part seven: l.308 'But tel me this' - l.378 'This know they'

Synopsis of l.308-378

The Wife subverts surveillance

The Wife continues her attack on the husbands by accusing them of trying to restrict her liberty. A pointless activity, she claims, because a wife will not love a man who seeks to confine her. In any case, she argues, making an analogy between sexual access and lamplight, it's niggardly of her husband to refuse another man to light a candle at his lantern. He will have no less light for allowing it.

The Wife resents the husband's objections to her braided hair, jewels and fine clothes. Modest attire is not for her. The husband's surveillance is fruitless, she claims. Even if he had the one hundred eyes of Argus, he could only keep her fidelity if she wished it.

She returns to the husband(s)' misogyny and the claims that three things trouble the earth and that no one can endure the fourth thing – a hateful wife. One husband, she reports, asserts from experience that a wife destroys a husband as certainly as caterpillars can strip a tree.

Commentary on l.308-378

l.310 It is my good as wel as thyn, pardee!: Until the Married Women's Property Act in 1870, the possessions of a wife automatically came under the ownership of her husband. The Wife has become an increasingly wealthy woman by her advantageous marriages. See Social / political context > Marriage in England in the fourteenth century.

l.320 I knowe yow for a trewe wyf, dame alys: The Wife longs to hear these words from her husband(s) whilst Chaucer clearly demonstrates that she is not ‘true'.

l.324 The wise astrologien, daun ptholome: Ptolemy was a Greek philosopher, whose Almagest l. 325, was the most important work on astronomy until the Renaissance, when his earth centred system of the universe was challenged by Copernicus and Galileo.

l.323, 231-2: Of alle men yblessed … / olde dotard … / queynte right ynogh: Chaucer undercuts the Wife's elevated language quoting an ‘auctoritee' with her descent to coarse slang.

l.340-1 with sorwe! thou most enforce thee, / … in the apostles name: The Wife is angry that her husband grounds his criticism in the ultimate ‘auctoritee', the Bible (see 1 Timothy 2:9), although she herself has previously quoted the author of this statement, St Paul.

l.346-7 After thy text … / I wol nat wirche as muchel as a gnat.: The Wife audaciously dismisses the authority of the Bible.

l.348, 354 I was lyk a cat … goon a-caterwawed: The extended simile conveys the the Wife's slyness, vigour and sexual drive.

l.358-9 argus with his hundred yen / 359: To be my warde-cors: According to Greek fable Argus had one hundred eyes. He was asked by Juno to spy on people who roused her jealousy. He failed because he was so enraptured by the way in which Mercury played the lyre that he fell asleep. Mercury then killed him and Juno set the eyes of Argus on the tail of the peacock.

l.366, 369 Yet prechestow … / … youre parables: These terms are associated with sermons and the authoritative teaching of priests and Jesus, which the husband is trying to assume.

l.371, 372, 373 Thou liknest … wommenes love to helle / bareyne lond / wilde fyr: Because the medieval church taught that Eve caused Adam to disobey God, allowing the advent of sin into the world, women were commonly associated with hell, as suggested by the images here. See also:

Big ideas from the Bible > Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, Second Adam
Big ideas from the Bible > Women in the Bible

l.376 as wormes shende a tree: With this unusual image of destruction, Jankin is probably recalling the Old Testament story of Jonah, who resented God sending a ‘worm' to destroy the vine in whose shade he was sitting (Jonah 4:6-7). See Famous stories from the Bible > Jonah.

Investigating l.308-378

Read l.308-322 out aloud (from ‘But tel me this..' to ‘… at oure large.')
- Mark the words in each line which seem to you to have the most emphasis (e.g. ‘body', ‘good', ‘liste', ‘large')
- Think about how Chaucer uses the rhythm of the line to stress the words that the Wife would most want the husbands to grasp, enabling her to make her point absolutely clear!
How do the images in this section add liveliness and excitement to the Wife's tale? Think about:
- The locked chest
- The hundred eyes
- The singed / sleek cats
- The stripped tree.
Read the text carefully from l.193 ‘Now sires' to l.379 ‘This know they'
- Try to give a voice to one of the husbands denied a voice by the Wife's control of the narrative and the conversation. Write a diary extract from a husband's point of view. (If you are stuck for a beginning, try – ‘Dame Alis, woe was the day when .…')

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ²for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. ⁷For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. ⁸I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰but with what is proper for women who profess godliness - with good works. ¹¹Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹²I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵Yet she will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

¹I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; ²For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. ³For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; ⁴Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; ⁶Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. ⁷Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. ⁸I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. ⁹In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; ¹⁰But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. ¹¹Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. ¹²But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. ¹³For Adam was first formed, then Eve. ¹⁴And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. ¹⁵Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. ²And he prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. ³Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. ⁴And the Lord said, Do you do well to be angry? ⁵Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. ⁶Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. ⁷But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. ⁸When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, It is better for me to die than to live. ⁹But God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry for the plant? And he said, Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. ¹⁰And the Lord said, You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?

¹But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. ²And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. ³Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. ⁴Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? ⁵So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. ⁶And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. ⁷But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. ⁸And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. ⁹And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. ¹⁰Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: ¹¹And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more then sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

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The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale Contents