Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Wife of Bath Prologue

How many husbands has the Wife (Alisoun) had?   Trace them here:  For example, #1 was when she was 12 years old and  . . .

4 comments:

  1. The Wife of Bath Prologue was very lengthy! Alisoun had 5 husbands. The first 3 were in her own words, "good" because they were rich, old, and submissive. Her last 2 were "bad" because they were exactly what the young Alisoun was like: wild, rude, rough, unfaithful, and always very flattering in bed. She married her first husband when she was 12. I am not exactly sure when the 2nd and 3rd came and went age, time, etc. but I do know they were wealthy and gave Alisoun everything she wanted because she was so manipulative. The 4th came when the wife was older; they shared many qualities but he stepped out on her with a mistress but he died. The 5th came while the wife was still with the 4th. He was 20 years younger than Alisoun who was 40. He was abusive all day every day except for in bed. Alisoun truly truly loved her 5th husband.

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  2. She married the first man when she was 12 and her first three husbands were good men. These three men were rich and lavished things on Alisoun. She was wild and ran around on them all. The last two were not as kind. It sounds as if the fourth one was her equal for sleeping around and he died. The husband she has now, number five, is abusive. She married him for love and has gotten nothing of what she wants from him.

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  3. I'm not sure I see abusive in the last husband--maybe neglectful. I think she is ticked he doesn't sleep with her more often.

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