In the old days of King Arthur, the Wife of Bath begins, the isle of Britain was full of fairies and elves. In Arthur’s court, however, a young, lusty Knight comes across a beautiful young maiden one day. Overcome by lust and his sense of his own power, he rapes her. The court is defamed by the crime and decrees that the knight should be put to death by punishing. However, Arthur’s queen and other ladies of the court intercede on his behalf and ask the king to give him one chance to save his own life. Arthur, wisely loyal to wifely counsel, grants their request. The queen presents the knight with the following challenge if, within one year, he can discover what women want most in the world and report his findings back to the court, he will keep his life. If he cannot find the answer to the queen’s question, or if his answer is wrong, he will lose his head.
From reading this tale, I connected this to the real live, that we live in because, as it has stated in the text that “Her first marriage at the tender age of twelve, she has had five husbands.” It used to be like that years ago, getting married young and having a lot husbands. But it changes over the years, and it gets better.
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