<P> The Wife of Bath 's Tale ( Middle English : the Tale of the Wyf of Bathe ) is among the best - known of Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales . It provides insight into the role of women in the Late Middle Ages and was probably of interest to Chaucer himself , for the character is one of his most developed ones , with her Prologue twice as long as her Tale . He also goes so far as to describe two sets of clothing for her in his General Prologue . She holds her own among the bickering pilgrims , and evidence in the manuscripts suggests that although she was first assigned a different , plainer tale -- perhaps the one told by the Shipman -- she received her present tale as her significance increased . She calls herself both Alyson and Alys in the prologue , but to confuse matters these are also the names of her ' gossib ' ( a close friend or gossip ) , whom she mentions several times , as well as many female characters throughout The Canterbury Tales . </P>
<P> The Wife of Bath 's Tale ( Middle English : the Tale of the Wyf of Bathe ) is among the best - known of Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales . It provides insight into the role of women in the Late Middle Ages and was probably of interest to Chaucer himself , for the character is one of his most developed ones , with her Prologue twice as long as her Tale . He also goes so far as to describe two sets of clothing for her in his General Prologue . She holds her own among the bickering pilgrims , and evidence in the manuscripts suggests that although she was first assigned a different , plainer tale -- perhaps the one told by the Shipman -- she received her present tale as her significance increased . She calls herself both Alyson and Alys in the prologue , but to confuse matters these are also the names of her ' gossib ' ( a close friend or gossip ) , whom she mentions several times , as well as many female characters throughout The Canterbury Tales . </P>
when does the wife of bath take place
when does the wife of bath take place
Late Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages