Pilgrim-narrator
Shows himself as a good natured-Chaucer is in the tale himself as a character, and is closely connected to the narrator but is not the narrator. They do not share the same beliefs always. The narrator is somewhat impressionable (seems to admire the characters, says "worthy" alot when describing them, but Chaucer sees them as unworthy)
Chaucer himself values honesty, modesty, simplicity, indifference to money. He condemns cheating and fraud, but doesn't always recognize it.
Chaucer is big on satire! He satires the English church and it's hypocrisy-uses the Oxford Cleric and the Parson as good examples. He identifies the following characters and satirizes them:
-merchant-self-important hypocrits
-franklin-excessive devotion to pleasure
-doctor-greed and ignorance
-miller-dishonest business people
Fabliau is literary term Chaucer uses to demonstrate a great variety of comic tales in verse (i.e Miller's, Reeve's, Shipman's, Summoner's tales)
-describes everyday people in familiar places, and glamorizes them a bit, but we know that life, especially in the middle ages was not that easy!
-plots include gullibility in victims and sexual appetite in the trickster heroes
-Canterbury Tales demonstrates irreverence (lack of respect for things that are generally taken seriously) which is probably why the tales have endured so long!
Avarice-greed or insatiable desire for wealth
Questions for "Pardoner's Tale and Wife of Bath" due Wednesday, February 29th
Pardoner's Tale
1. How does the Pardoner describe his own character and morals in the Prologue to his tale?
2. How do the descriptions given by the tavern-knave and the publican personify Death? What does the rioters' response to the description of Death tell you about their characters?
3. Irony is a discrepancy between expectations and reality. What is the central irony in "The Pardoner's Tale"? (What do the rioters expect to find under the tree and what do they actually find?)
4. Is greed or desire the root of all evil? Discuss the Pardoner's moral.
Wife of Bath
1. Consider the various things the Wife of Bath. As the narrator of her tale, the Wife of Bath says things people think women want. What do you think of these proposals? In other words, what do women want according to her and you?
2. Do you think Chaucer's rich portrayal of the Wife of Bath is an indication that he had progressive views about women for his time?
Pardoner's Tale
ReplyDelete1. The Pardoner is a character that desires/craves wealth. He is dishonest, begging from those who are impoverished.
2. The descriptions personify death by saying death is a "privy thief." The rioters' response to the description of Death says that they are prepared for death, knowing that they could be next.
3. The rioters expected to find Death to kill him, but instead, they found a pile of gold coins.
4. The desire to be wealthy became an obsession; people were greedy. Because the pardoner focused more on the obsession of becomming wealthy, he dismissed his morals.
Wife of Bath
1. In lines 101 and 103, it says people think that women want wealth, treasure, and gorgeous clothes. This applies to people who live a more materialistic lifestyle. I think it depends on your personality. According to Wife of Bath, women want pleasure, honor, or things. I think women these days still want similar things, but there is more of a variety or mix.
2. I think Chaucer is stereotyping women by portraying them all as rich because he didn't talk about women that want more sensible things.
Pardoner's Tale
ReplyDelete1.) He describes himself as a greedy and desires wealth. He is not honest. And he would take money from the poorest people.
2.) He said that death is a “thief” And he is not scared of dying he is ready if it comes.
3.) He was expecting to find death but he found gold instead.
4.) I think yes because the pardoner became really greedy that he had no more morals.
Wife of bath’s tale!
1.)The wife of bath said women want a man who could take care of them financially and they want gorgeous clothes. And I disagree because that’s materialistic stuff. I think some women may want that but not all of them. I think that now day’s women want a man that cares about them.
2.)Chaucer really didn’t mentioned women.
Chaucer doesn't mention women? He may not directly, but indirectly his entire tale is about what women want! Does he see the Wife of Bath as they ideal, womanly figure who defies convention and the restrictions of marriage? He has an opinion, but he isn't very critical of her actions. Rather he portrays her as quite comical.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Pardoner freely admits that the only reason for his occupation if for personal gains (line 2). He also admits that he is a hypocrite against what he himself teaches, saying "And use the same old text, as bold as brass, Radix malorum est cupditas (The root of evil is desire). And thus I preach against the very vice I make my living out of . . . " (lines 3-6). He also admits in line 11 that he is covetous. If I understood line 12, he basically says that despite his motive, he does get people to repent, and "that ought to be enough"
ReplyDelete2.
-in line 65, he says that "the man was slain,” however that he died of being drunk. Death is personified by saying that is slain the man. I might be incorrect on how the man died, but I interpreted as the man died of drinking too much.
-Also, line 67 calls death a name, 'a privy thief, they call him death.' Death is personified in this case by the fact that the boy says that death is a person (they call him death).
-Again in line 69 he says death speared him through the heart, which is another example of personification.
-Line 70 death is personified by saying that death 'went his way without a word'.
-Line 71, 73, again personifies death by connecting him with a male sex.
-Line 75 personifies death by suggesting that they could actually 'meet' death.
-Line 74 personifies death by calling him an 'adversary'.
In the case of the Publican:
-Line 82 personifies death by saying that 'he lives round here'.
-Line 85 death is personified by giving it the characteristic of being 'fierce'.
-Line 91 death is personified by the male's belief that he could actually pursue and kill death.
3. The irony is the fact that instead of pursuing death, they in fact brought death to themselves, or in effect became death.
4. I do believe that greed can be a great part in evil, however desire I don't believe is a root of evil. Desire when accomplished in a balanced way may lead to no actual bad consequences. Today, however, we see multiple cases of where greed has destroyed the lives of individuals. Such cases include the greediness of big corporations such as oil companies. These companies are making record profits at the expense of the consumers, all because greed. We can also see greed in political leaders, in almost any government in the world, and due to this greed, the citizens who are led by these leaders 'get the short end of the stick'. This is all caused by greed. The pardoner, and his morals, is an excellent parable with our current leaders who tend to only listen to those who have money to lobby them and not the common citizen.
WOB
1. Based on WOB's story, it may be safe to assume based on lines 101-104 that women want the materialistic pleasures of life, as well as having their husbands to die and remarry. However, lines 112-114 say basically that women want to be viewed with good reputation, to not be corrected for any faults they make. the WOB also uses the story to make another thing a women wants, which is for there to be equality between male and female, husband and wife. She also suggests that when a man does accept equality between sexes, a women would make it worth the husband's time, as the end of the story shows with the transformation of the old lady once the husband accepted her.
Last question:
Delete2. It is undoubtedly a possibility, according to class today, the WOB's story was one of the longer tales told by the pilgrims. This fact may show that Chaucer put extra importance on the women's story and character. If Chaucer didn't have any progressive thoughts on women's rights, he would have chosen to make WOB a more scandalous women, however he makes her tell a tale that shows that WOB isn't just a women wanting glory and riches, but the fact that she chose to tell the tale she did shows that she believed in equality, which was an underlying theme of the tale. Equality was and is a progressive idea when it involves females. I agree with the theme of the story, women want equality. We see this in our own country through female activism. Also, this is especially being brought out in middle eastern countries where most women have little to no rights. One example is when we see stories of women openly defying laws by driving, which in most middle eastern countries is forbidden.
Nicely done with your examples pertaining to personification. Clearly you understand that literary element. I think your interpretations of the Pardoner and Wife of Bath are spot on. The Pardoner makes no apologies for his actions, the simple fact that people are repenting is sufficient. The comparison you might to our society today in response to greed is appropriate. Greed has never gone away; it is continuously decaying the moral fabric of our society. Lastly, the Chaucer interpretation is correct. He could have absolutely ridiculed her, but he doesn't. It's clear that you genuinely did the reading and looked closely at it's components. Well done.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThe only country in the WORLD that doesn't allow women to drive is Saudi Arabia.
DeleteHeather Roshak
ReplyDeletePardoner:
1. The Pardoner basically admits to being immoral by admitting that he desires wealth, even if it means taking money from "the poorest lad or poorest village widow, though she had a string of starving children, all agape."
2. Death is personified as a thief, who goes around killing.
3. the rioters were expecting to be killed by Death, but they found gold instead
4. I think that greed can be a root to all evil, and that desire, if acted upon in inappropriate times can also be.
Wife of Bath:
1. The Wife of Bath believes that all women want things of high class; treasure, gorgeous clothes, honor, and wealth. Women wanted men who would treat them well, and care for them. In our society today, it really depends on the woman, but most still want the same things that the Wife of Bath believes women want.
2. I think Chaucer had respect for women, but he also made it seem like women would only be pleased if they had the best of everything there is in life.
Elaboration on number 4...what are these supposed inappropriate times?
DeleteDo you think Chaucer would have struggled with today's woman?
Pardoner’s Tale:
ReplyDelete1. He describes his own morals as basically being the opposite of what one should follow, and the pardoner himself even said he does differently than what he teaches. His “character” is greedy, dishonest, desires wealth, and takes from the less fortunate.
2. (Line 74) “An unseen thief, called death, came stalking by” All three parts of this quote personify death. An unseen thief that’s called death gives death the traits of a human, a specific name and a word used to describe a person, “thief”. And saying that death came stalking by gives death the human ability to “stalk”. The rioters say that the three of them are going to take down death by themselves. They seek death in the road and streets and for some reason think they can defeat it. They are obviously very courageous and brave, but almost a little dim-witted at the same time I think.
3. The irony is that they thought there were going to find death (and attempt to kill it/him), but instead they actually found gold.
4. I don’t think that either are the sole “root of evil”, but both definitely contribute. In some ways desire can be very positive and helpful, like if you had a strong desire to do your very best in life. So I guess greed becomes more of the root of evil. It’s hard to talk about his morals because he didn’t really have many at all, good ones at least. He was very greedy and desired money so it seems that his morals are very flawed.
Wife of Bath:
1. In the stories that the wife of bath told, woman mainly wanted equality with men, not to be told they are wrong/sinful when there really might be, possibly some gifts/treasures on the more materialistic side, and the equivalent of security in various different ways. I believe that in many ways those desires are still prominent today, but with other things added that maybe weren’t possible in those days.
2. I’m not exactly sure what Chaucer’s ideas or views of woman were, it wasn’t very direct, but even him using the woman of baths tale goes to show that he valued Her ideas (where she had her own personal opinions). Chaucer probably wasn’t ready to immediately put woman on the same level as men, but I think he was still looking for some sort of progression eventually.
Is Chaucer ready to give into the Wife of Bath and concede that her morals are acceptable or is it more of a mockery towards her? He creates the very character that he has worked against: deceitful, materialistic and greedy, yet her adores her as well. She's a walking contradiction.
DeletePardoner
ReplyDelete1) the pardoner describes himself as greedy, he craves wealth, he is not honest, and he will take money from the poorest of the poor.
2) they personify death as a "thief", the rioters response to death is the they are not scared they are prepared for death when it comes.
3)The rioters expected to find death under the tree but what they actually found was gold.
4)i do believe that greed can be a root of evil, but i do not agree that desire is. if yo udesire to accomplish a task, good can come of it but when looking at greed, i see no good that comes of it.
Wife of Bath
1) The wife of Bath says that women want a man who can take care of them, and that women want wealth, treasure, and clothes. in my opinion today women dont want all of these materialistic things, they want to be loved and treated as equals, the other things are just a bonus.
2) i could get a direct idea of chaucers view of women were, but he showed interest in the wife of bath's story which show some respect for women, which is ahead of his time, but it also seemed like women wouldnt be satisfied if they didnt have the everything they could have, or the best of everything.
I don't know if I agree with you about women needing everything according to Chaucer, but I could see how you might come to that conclusion. It's interesting that both the Wife of Bath and the Knight get what they want at the end of the tale.
DeletePardoners Tale
ReplyDelete1. The Pardoner basically is a character that is very greedy and desires wealth. He also is described as a dishonest person and is a very self centered character.
2. It describes death as a "thief" and he said that he is very ready for death to come and he is prepared for it. In the text they say that "death lives around here".
3. When they look under the tree and expect death to take him they actually found a lot of gold coins instead which is this case is described as ironic.
4. I think that greed is more the root of all evil rather then desire because desire is more of some one working for a goal they desire in this case we can say and they don't force it to happen and aren't obsessed with it but it stays in their mind longer. Greed is a type of desire but more of a selfish way and usually is needed right away by the person so it can fulfill their needs.
WOB
1. In line 101 it says that woman just want wealth and treasure. They also want gorgeous clothes. In my opinion i think that it depends on the person because if your very poor they would just want a good family and food, and a caring husband. But if your rich i think you just want money and lots and lots of expensive clothes, which is not necessary.
2. Chaucer basically portrayed woman as the typical wife that did stuff for their husband or listened to who ever was in charge. But he didn't mention a lot about them. But he also said that they all usually wanted to be rich and have expensive things.
Pardoner's Tale
ReplyDelete1.Hedescrivs him self as not a honest person.he would take anything fro a poor person.All he wants is wealth.
2. crives death as being a "privy thief".the rioters are ready to day because they know that will happen one day.
3.the rioters were expecting to fin death but instead they found treasure or gold.
4.the pardoner had an obsession to became really wealthy and by doing that his moral came up to be relly low.
Wife of bath’s tale
1. she says that people thought that wonman whanted treashure plesure and power on the man. Ithink that could be true but the ercentage would be really low because womans want a man who truly loves them.
2. i think that chaucer talks only about woman who were kind of inportant.
Chaucer thinks the Wife of Bath is important, but he doesn't go overboard in criticizing her. She represents the most important question a woman can ask...
DeletePardoner's Tale
ReplyDelete1. He robbed the poorest of the poor, greedy, dishonest, hungered for wealth.
2. He will accept death when it is read to take him. He refers death as the "thief"
3. He found gold instead of death
4. I think greed is the root of evil because greed is focused more on the person constantly WANTING something and will act upon it. Whereas desire is to crave and wish. Pardoner's greed for wealth exempt his morals.
Women of Bath’s Tale
1. the Women of Bath said that all women wants treasure, wealth, pretty clothes. I think women now they would rather want someone who would love them and listen to them.
2. Chaucer talked about the duty of a women and how they have to listen to their husband but also their desire for treasure and wealth.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeletePardoner's Tale
ReplyDelete1. He robbed the poorest people, greedy, dishonest; cold hearted, and wants to be wealthy.
2. He’s not afraid of death, he actually accepts death and is ready for it but he refers death as a “Thief”.
3. When the rioters look under the tree and expect death to take him they actually found a lot of gold coins, which are ironic
4. I think greed is the root of evil and can lead to tragic ending. Greed is a type of desire but a selfish way that is usually wanted right away by the person so it can accomplish their needs.
Women of Bath’s Tale
1. The Women of Bath said that all women want treasure, wealth, pretty clothes. I think a woman would want equality and a loving man and do romantic things that randomly happen and a man that can take care of her as well as she can take care of him.
2. I feel like Chauncer is saying women are always rich and they only look for wealth and treasure from the love ones. Which is stereotyping to women.
Doesn't Chaucer want us to see the Wife of Bath as an independent strong woman, but also to realize that her perspective is limited to her own experience? Not all woman desire riches...
DeleteThe Pardoner's Tale:
ReplyDelete1. The pardoner says from the very beginning that he preaches for nothing but for greed of gain (from line 2). He talks about covetousness and how he takes from the poor and that they are not living in poverty by their own choice (from line 19).
2. The tavern-knave talks about an old friend died. He personifies death as taking someone taking life from someone else and calls death a "thief".
3. This is ironic because they found gold under the tree when they were expecting to death to take them.
4. The pardoner's greed for him is the basis of his morals. I am not sure if I believe greed is the root of all evil.
Wife of Bath's Tale:
1. The story says that women want pretty clothing. They also want to have lots of wealth in treasure. I think what women really want is for a man to do the exact opposite of what they say but what they are thinking in their head. They would also like the man to have a job and be able to support them.
2. I think Chaucer is saying that women are lower on the ladder than their husbands and are submissive but also that they want to be wealthy. This is not true for all women though I believe.
You honestly don't have an opinion on greed...look at our society and how we've responded to greed and think about it!
Delete1. He describes himself as dishonest and corrupt. He says that he would steal from even the poorest families. He would rather live well and be dishonest then be poor.
ReplyDelete2. They describe death as if he is a person saying he came in the night and killed the man. They do not treat death as if he didn’t exist or how we think of death today. The response from the rioters shows us that they are brave but ignorant to think they can kill death.
3. They expect to find death as a man or a physical being in someway but what they actually find gold that leads to the death of the three of them.
4. I believe that greed is the root of all evil because most of the world conflicts come down to one thing even today, money. The Pardoner has low moral because of his greed and corruption.
5. The Women of Bath says women want to be treated as equals which I still think is true today but that isn’t the only thing women want. In a guy I think women look for somebody they can trust, somebody who will take care of them.
6. I think his insight to how women want to be treated was very ahead of his time, that is seen in the women’s right moments. Women demanded exactly what he said
Great interpretation for the last question! That is true; Chaucer saw women as very capable and progressive, exactly like the Wife of Bath!
ReplyDeleteThe Pardoner
ReplyDelete1.) The pardoner wants to be wealthy and will even take money from the poor just so he can have wealth. He is greedy and dishonest.
2.) Death is personified as "An unseen theif [...] stalking by" (line 74). Death is describes as slaying a thousand people with his spear. (lines 76-78) And having a habitation (line 88). The rioters respond with arrogance and ignorance thinking that they can just walk up to Death and slay him. They want to meet Death and slay him, which is kind of ironic because to meet Death is to die, and to slay Death would mean to kill it. Which would require Death itself to be "alive" so it doesn't really make sense.
3.) The rioters expect to find Death, but nstead find gold which makes them forget of their quest to kill Death and they rejoice. They think that they gold will make them wealthy and happy, but it ultimately brings upon their deaths. So the iron is that they found Death and met Death, like they were aiming to, but not in the way they were expecting.
4.) I believe that greed and desire go hand in hand to be the root of evil. To desire something, you are greedy for that thing. And to be greedy, there has to be something that you desire.
Wife of Bath
1.) The Wife of Bath says that women desire power. I think that that is very true in our society. Why else would women have fought (and still fight) for equal rights? But I also think that the desire for power is not the only thing that women want now. We already have more power than women did in Chaucer's society, so its not as critical. I think that women also want someone to listen and care for them.
2.)I think that Chaucer had progressive views about women of his time. He didn't have to write the Wife of Bath's story the way he did. But he did. Which means that he had to understand that women were deprived of power in his time, and that they wanted power.
Great response to the irony within the Pardoner's tale. It's supposed to showcase the irreverent attitude the rioters have towards death and foolish notion that they can "slay" it. Chaucer is making such a mockery of people who live that lifestyle, showing no respect for things completely out of our control.
DeletePardoners tale
ReplyDelete1) the pardoners described him self as greedy and wealth seeking. he is very dishonest.
2)personifys by an unseen thief. the rioters respond with courage as in they are like i will meet him on the street, that the will go slay this death.
3)they excpect to find death and insted find gold, the irony is that money is the cause of all evil
4) greed is the root of all evil cause they wanted the gold and killed eachother for it so they ended up meeting this “death”
WOB tale
1) I think some of the people in the tale are right except for the pleasure one cause I personally think that girls should be treat more then equal because in my back ground my dad was not the greatest role model so I always try and do better then him
2) Well I think that he made the WOB is more progressive then that time.
Riley!!!!!!! Put your name on your profile!
DeleteThe Pardoners Tale
ReplyDelete1) The pardoner describes himself as greedy, seeking wealth and riches. Using his dishonesty and deceitfulness he hopes to fulfill his desire for these riches.
2) Death is personified as an unseen thief. As if it is a human that walks about villages murdering people. The rioters, arrogant and drunk respond with stupidity and ignorance. They plan to slay death and save others from the terrors of death. Thinking they are brave, they set out on this quest to slay death.
3) After meeting the old man, they expect to find death laying under the oak tree, and they expect to walk up there and slay him. When they arrive, they do not find death, but riches beyond their belief. Rejoicing in finding such treasures and thinking they have found the key to all their happiness, each man forgets the very reason they had set out on the quest in the first place, which was to slay death. Each man desires the riches, thinking he will be happy, and this is how their greed ultimately sets in. Each man wants the treasure for himself, and begins to secretly plot on killing the other two. Ultimately each mans plan fails and all of them die. It is ironic because they had set out to meet and slay death, they met death, but not in the way the expected. Death slated them.
4) I believe that desire is the root of all evil. Desire is really the sole thing that causes greed... Meaning that people desire things in this life, to be happy, to be loved, to be wealthy. This desire can become so extreme that their greed sets in to play and can cause them to go to extremes to fulfill their desires.
WOB Tale
1) The woman of bath gives the men in the story several examples of what most women want, to marry attractive young men, to be rich, to be complimented, but the number one hint she makes clear to them on what women really want is power and equality among men. I find this to be very true in our society. Women are presented with many opportunities in our society to make themselves "equal" to men. They can go to the same colleges, play sports men can, pursue jobs that haven't been seen as socially acceptable in our society up until recently. They want to feel that they are equal to men. Do men always agree with these opportunities, no, some men still look down upon women because they do not see them as having the same power in the social class. Women have fought for equality and the same rights and power for a very long time, and if you think about it, they have almost obtained it. Do people find this socially acceptable? not always, but the opportunity to take advantage of this power is there for any woman, that is, if she wants it bad enough.
2) I think that Chaucer did sympathize woman during his time. He didn't have to put the WOB in the story, or choose to write her tale like he did. I think Chaucer was well aware the lack of power that woman had, and their desire for equality.
1) He discribes himself as greedy. He is also willing to use deceit to profit.
ReplyDelete2) Death is personified as a theif. The rioters do not fear death.
3) The irony is that they did not find death under the tree just gold. But in the end that gold was death, their deaths.
4) Desire in a certain sense is the root of all evil. Greed is just a subset of desire, there are many things that one can desire, but greed is the desire of wealth.
1) Women want to be equal, that's what the wife of Bath says, and I agree.
2) He probably did have proggresive views for his time, but he describes the wife of Bath in a negative light because her tail is not like she acts at all.
Pardoner's tale
ReplyDelete1. He agreed his desire and greedy-mind. he is the man with shamelessness.
2. In the Pardoner's tale, fact of death is being personified, however, Rioters don't scared by death. They thought they would kill the death.
3. There was no such a thing as vampire or dragon or arche typical grim reaper with giant cycle, instead of that they found some useful useful things. They're so greed and take all the treasures without sharing. and they drve themselves to "death". The irony is the death actually didn't took their life, of course their was nothing but their own desires of wealth ultimatley drive themselves to death.
4. Greed could be really horrible things enough to kill themselves. somehow, there are a lot of poisons are actually used as medicine. If they know how to control it. I don't know where is the bother land of "Greed" and natural desire for whole human. without thinking about being rich, there would be just lack of motivation to hard work and living better life, of course too much greed is bad. but without any greed will be worse, certainly. not the everyone have to think and acting like buddhist monk.
1. Knight Gawainn let her choose either day or night and Gawainn's selection was the best answer for himself. Wife of Bath, who is strong minded woman and what I really think is, she want to be respected. back in the day, men made important descision by themselves. If I'm a smart women like wife of bath, and plus, if my husband is bossy and stupid that would be horrible. I understand her sides. however women want to be loved. this is my answer, although in my mind, being loved and being respected is almost same things.
2. yeah, perhaps he respect and love her wife a lot. Un Chaucer's life someone, like wife, or other women in the social club or even a prostitude, by the way there is somebody that inspired Chaucer and make him creates wife of bath. Although, wife of bath marride 5 times and she looking for new hsuband in Pigrimage, according to that factors, Chaucer is the middle English man and even he is super progressive in his age, He is not completely free from sexism.
1: The pardoner describes himself as a very greedy, wealth seeking man. He does this things with his gift of words and slyness.
ReplyDelete2: The character of death is personified as a thief who steals lives of people and the riots do not fear death.
3: They did not find death beneath the tree the did find gold treasure under it though. Which led to their deaths because of their own selfish greed.
4: Greed leads to a persons evil. It takes their want and turns it bad. It takes the want and makes it stronger and stronger till they cave in am do something that will conflict with their morals.
1: I believe she wants all women to be equal and them to have freedom to go and be successful as they want.
2:He was creative in the though that the tale promoted women to be more self sufficient and independent as a person. This was a pretty out there idea at the time and very revolutionary way of thinking.
Pardoner:
ReplyDelete1) The Pardoner is a selfish and greedy man whose actions are done with zero regret.
2) Death take on the persona as a thief in this tale, stealing the lives of many. The riots do not fear the thief(death).
3) They were searching for death but instead they found gold. Irony shows when even though they didn't find death itself, it did lead to all of their deaths.
4) That answer is quite clear. Desire is no way is related to bad things. Only when people have the desire for something that has no limit it becomes a problem, also at that point it becomes greed.
Wife of Bath:
1) The Wife of Bath claimed that women desire equality with their spouse. They want to be next to their husband, not behind them, not below them. Women are equal to men, and I treat them as such.
2) If you read closely between the lines, you can see that Chaucer wrote this with a humorous intent. As if "haha this is what women want but will never have." Almost like the story in Ice Age with the mammoth believing she was a possum.