ENG 2301

Study Guide for The Wife of Bath’s Tale

If you like, read a brief summary (at the top, in blue) before you begin. Or go to this page to read a rap version (or to follow a link to the tale in the original Middle English). Part of the rap version is performed on this YouTube page. (There's more of this version here, but parts of the video aren't in very clear focus.)

  1. What legendary English king is the ruler in this story?

  2. What time and place are the setting for the story the Wife of Bath tells?

  3. What crime did the young knight commit?  

  4. What should his punishment have been, according to the law?  Who or what saved him?  

  5. What task was the young knight given to do?  How much time was he allowed to complete it?

  6. How did he finally find the answer, and what promise did he make to get it?

  7. What reward did his helper ask for?  How did he respond at first?  How did he eventually respond?

  8. What happened on the wedding night? 

  9. What choice did the new wife offer to her husband?  What was his answer?  What reasons did he give?

  10. How was the young knight rewarded?

  11. What has the young knight learned?  How does this fit his crime? 

  12. Is this a story about how a young man gets away with a serious crime because he's good looking, or does it make another point?  Do you see any relation between it and the Wife of Bath's Prologue?

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