“Ywimpled wel” : unraveling the layers of medieval masculine insecurities in The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale.

Abstract

Chaucer‟s flamboyant Wife of Bath has been known to be his vehicle in terms of expressing radical ideas on gender issues during his time. This has since led to the various theorectical perspectives on the matter. A woman like The Wife of Bath became a symbol of a woman‟s liberation from gender restrictions, an idea that was alien in Chaucer‟s time. As we unravel the layers of The Wife psyche, we not only read more into her psyche but also the various ways in which The Wife can be read as a literary device. I believe that The Wife of Bath‟s Prologue and Tale is not just a feminist tale of a woman who does not seem to fit into the stereotypes of Chaucer‟s time but also an extension of his insecurities as a man.