Godfrey Chaucer portrays the wife of Bath (Alison) as a woman who behaved nicely to her late husband but changed into a different person after inheriting her husband's wealth in the prologue to "The Canterbury Tales." Like many other economically successful women of the Middle Ages, Alison flaunts her money and isn't afraid to wield the authority that comes with being wealthy. Alison is described as having "exaggerated" clothing and a bold face, which suggests that she can conduct business dealings similarly to how her spouse once did and that placed independent and working women in a commanding
position in the society.
Based on the laws of London in the Middle Ages, Alison represents the workability of Femme Sole. She acquires the position of the manager of family businesses and estates after her husband's demise and remains independent and responsible for any outcomes including debt. Alison is a mirror of the women who held managerial skills that made their husbands entrust them with their businesses and properties. The wife of Bath executes that seemingly simple but difficult duty and maintains the wealth of her husband; she might also have grown it further and perhaps that is why she is capable of continuing to living large.
The boldness of the Wife of Bath is a representation of the zeal and seriousness with which the working women and widows in charge of businesses promoted the interests of their companies. Those working women and widows had the same roles as men in the society then, they could be equated to the males regarding their intelligence and abilities.
Works Cited
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Edited by Michael Murphy, University Press of America, 1991.
