The Wife of Bath and Other Canterbury Tales

by Geoffrey Chaucer

A touchstone of mediaeval literature, this small volume contains three stories from the Canterbury Tales, translated into Modern English by Nevill Coghill: 'The Wife of Bath', 'The Miller' and 'The Reeve'.

Genres: Classics, Poetry, Fiction, School, Literature, Medieval, Read For School

88 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 1995

About the author

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called Poets' Corner, in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his 10-year-old son, Lewis. He maintained a career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament.
Among Chaucer's many other works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, and Troilus and Criseyde. He is seen as crucial in legitimising the literary use of Middle English when the dominant literary languages in England were still Anglo-Norman French and Latin. Chaucer's contemporary Thomas Hoccleve hailed him as "the firste fyndere of our fair langage" (i.e., the first one capable of finding poetic matter in English). Almost two thousand English words are first attested to in Chaucerian manuscripts. As scholar Bruce Holsinger has argued, charting Chaucer's life and work comes with many challenges related to the "difficult disjunction between the written record of his public and private life and the literary corpus he left behind". His recorded works and his life show many personas that are "ironic, mysterious, elusive [or] cagey" in nature, ever-changing with new discoveries.

Reviews

[Raghad ElBashir · Rating 4 out of 5]

wife of bath is a queen

[Maddie Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read 3 Canterbury tales for class…they were fine. Cool historically and culturally but I would never read this kind of stuff for enjoyment

[Neve · Rating 4 out of 5]

take a shot every time they say goon

[Carolyn Whitzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading The Wife of Bath: a Biography, it seemed right to go to the source material. My goodness, Geoffrey Chaucer would be a great dinner guest. I’d ask him about his marriage and being brother in law to a great Duke and how he feels about Alison of Bath being his most famous character. Her voice still resonates after six centuries!

[Aurora Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. The Wife of Bath reminded me of an Instagram gold digger account, and the Miller’s Tale was very crass.

[Sherry B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. Only if a man can act like a gentleman again. And we all need to practice, gentility.

[anastasia ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

bloody hell

[Jenni · Rating 2 out of 5]

The "Wife of Bath" is a tale about a young knight who makes a bad decision early on in his knighthood. He fulfills his punishment from the Queen by setting out on a quest to find the answer to a question the Queen asks him. She gives him a year and a day to fulfill this quest for her answer. The question the Queen asks him is, "What is it that women desire most?”. The young knight luckily finds his answer on his journey back to the castle from his quest. He comes upon an ugly, old lady who answers his question but also ropes him into marrying her because she answered his question. The knight is set free from the Queen after giving the answer to her question. The tale goes on to tell how the knight ended up with the lady he met and how they work through their marriage with God’s help. I would recommend this tale to any gender of teen years or above because of the moral lesson found in it and the reading comprehension level.

[Alaast]

chaucer is always best read aloud in your best approximation of middle english. thanks to two brilliant eng. lit. instructors, instructive manuals, several youtube resources, and a few scant hours, i have achieved a barely passable lilt.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love a feminist hero

[Heidi]

Fun to read

[Chloe Stegner · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Is it possible for you to do what you have to do without talking so much?” -Justin Bieber

[Odessa Buell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sorry that this was SO ahead of it’s time. 👏👏👏

[Peyton]

Read for my English lit course on early writers to the 1800th century

[Daphne Harries · Rating 4 out of 5]

the wife of Bath is a baddie i will literally defend her with my life

[Tabby Barkham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wife of batch was the best of the tales with the downfall of the knight - brilliant

[heytherelorelai]

Unrated, academic read.

[ju⛧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wdym she faked her death to teach her man a lesson

Gen z would fucking adore her

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle English is harddd to read, man.. but super cool!

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wife of Bath is such an interesting tale. Chaucer wrote each of the pilgrims as true to the stereotype of their time as possible... except for the Wife of Bath. In some instances the story could pass for being told by a woman, but I think it sounds too much like a man. In looking at all of the evidence I believe Chaucer's reason for writing the Wife as he did was to give a picture to women of that time of what they could end up like if given certain freedoms. It was certainly an interesting prologue and story....

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wife of Bath was my favourite of the three stories. I don't know if I would ever get through the entire anthology, so reading selections was perfect. While some of the content isn't very appealing, the writing and general style of the book is impressive and entertaining. Overall, I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.

[Talena · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have patience, this book is really worth it. It's in Middle English, though, so it's a tough read. However, the more you read it, the easier it gets, and I personally, feel it's worth the work.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for senior English. We then had to write a tale about one of the characters. I put mine on paper that I'd stained with tea and aged in the sun for a week. And then I singed the edges. Perhaps it was overkill, but I'm a big nerdy, suck-up that way.

[Cecilia]

I read this in Spanish and I really like the main character's personality. A strong female character who surely earns her respect for her ability to dominate men. In modern times an "easy" woman but representative of the power of the female.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

really, I'm giving the experience of reading anything in Middle English 4 stars, cause it was so much fun! a challenge, but definitely worth it. I read a few tales in high school at this website: http://www.canterburytales.org/canter... and I really should read some more.

[Joannie Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the only books from this era that I actually enjoyed reading and would still read again (and even without having to for class!)

[Aubrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read The Wife of Bath.

[Gwendolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you, Mrs. Albright. Whan that apreial yes shooeresh soata the drookt of march hath soat nota...

HEH???

[Carol Chapman]

I am re-reading this to help my AP scholar understand the material. I forgot how much fun and sense of playfulness that Chaucer gives to each of the travelers.

[YAMAMURA Tsukiko]

England,English,classics,Medieval,Mediaeval