Canterbury Tales Sex Quotes

Yet tikled I his herte, for that he
Wende that I hadde of hym so greet chiertee!
I swoor that al my walkynge out by nyghte
Was for t’ espye wenches that he dighte.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue. One of the ways the domineering Wife of Bath achieved control of her first three husbands was to falsely accuse them of adultery and pretend to be jealous. She would swear that her walking out by night was to spy out wenches that they had sex with. And God help their innocence, she says that their hearts would be touched by this, believing it came from her great love for them!

And after wyn on Venus moste I thynke,
For al so siker as cold engendreth hayl,
A likerous mouth moste han a likerous tayl.
In wommen vinolent is no defence –
This knowen lecchours by experience.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue. Finding pleasure in wine, the Wife of Bath says that wine leads to thoughts of Venus and sex. Making the connection between wine and Venus, she says rather soberingly that lecherous men know by experience that drunken women have no defense against them.

But in oure bed he was so fressh and gay,
And therwithal so wel koude he me glose,
Whan that he wolde han my bele chose;
That thogh he hadde me bete on every bon,
He koude wynne agayn my love anon.
I trowe I loved hym best, for that he
Was of his love daungerous to me.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue. Although her fifth husband Jankin beat her on every bone, he was the one that Wife of Bath Alison loved the best, seemingly because of his great talents in bed. He gave his love sparingly to her but when he did he was very lively and gay. Even though he beat her he could win back her love straight away.

The clerk, whan he is oold, and may noght do
Of Venus werkes worth his olde sho,
Thanne sit he doun, and writ in his dotage
That wommen kan nat kepe hir mariage!

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue. When a clerical writer is old and and is incapable of using his "olde sho" (old shoe as in penis) to perform sex, he sits down and in his old age writes that women cannot keep their vow of marriage. The Wife of Bath is challenging the clerical writer’s anti-women view and reduces it to simply jealousy.

Of latter date, of wyves hath he red
That somme han slayn hir housbondes in hir bed,
And lete hir lecchour dighte hire al the nyght,
Whan that the corps lay in the floor upright.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue. Jankin carries on with his anti-feminist book readings to his wife Alison, Wife of Bath. This time about the gruesome tales of wives who had slain their husbands in their beds, and had sex with their lecher all night while their husband’s corpse lay on the floor alongside.

Wommen may go saufly up and doun.
In every bussh or under every tree
Ther is noon oother incubus but he,
And he ne wol doon hem but dishonour.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Now women don’t have to worry about demons hiding in the forest and accosting and impregnating them, says the Wife of Bath. They have to worry about friars, who would do them nothing but dishonor. An incubus is a male demon who sexual intercourse with sleeping women, sometimes producing a child with them.

And happed that, allone as he was born,
He saugh a mayde walkynge hym biforn,
Of which mayde anon, maugree hir heed,
By verray force, he rafte hire maydenhed.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. King Arthur has a lusty bachelor Knight who is out riding one day and happens upon a maiden walking. By force, despite all her struggles, he takes away her maidenhead (virginity), the Wife of Bath reveals – he rapes her! As knights are meant to be noble and honorable and act with chivalry and respect everyone, it is an irony that he commits such a crime.

But al for noght; the ende is this, that he
Constreyned was; he nedes moste hire wedde,
And taketh his olde wyf, and gooth to bedde.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. After trying to wriggle out of it, the Knight has has no choice but to to like it or lump it and marry and bed the Loathly Lady, much to his distaste. There is a certain poetic justice and irony in the fact that a Knight who raped a young virgin finds himself obliged to have sex with an ugly old hag.

Now ther ye seye that I am foul and old,
Than drede you noght to been a cokewold;
For filthe and eelde, also moot I thee,
Been grete wardeyns upon chastitee.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. In the Wife of Bath’s story, the old hag tells the Knight that he needn’t fear being a cuckold because ugly old wives are not desirable, age being a great guardian of chastity. This is rather ironic, as older age doesn’t seem to stop the Wife of Bath desiring and having sex.

"Chese now," quod she, "oon of thise thynges tweye:
To han me foul and old til that I deye,
And be to yow a trewe, humble wyf,
And nevere yow displese in al my lyf,
Or elles ye wol han me yong and fair,
And take youre aventure of the repair
That shal be to youre hous by cause of me,
Or in som oother place, may wel be.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. The Loathly Lady presents the Knight with a choice. He may have her as an ugly and old until she dies, and she will be a true, humble wife, who will be faithful to him. Or he can have her a young and fair wife and take the chance that she may cuckold him.

My lady and my love, and wyf so deere,
I put me in youre wise governance;
Cheseth youreself which may be moost plesance
And moost honour to yow and me also.
I do no fors the wheither of the two,
For as yow liketh, it suffiseth me.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. For the first time the Knight chooses the chivalrous approach with a woman and shows proper consideration for her. He allows his hag wife to choose whether she should remain old and faithful, or be young and fair and take his chance that she could be unfaithful. What pleases you is enough for me, he tells her, as he surrenders to the "wise governance" of a woman.

And eek I praye Jhesu Crist us sende
Housbondes meeke, yonge, and fressh abedde,
And grace t’ overbyde hem that we wedde;
And eek I praye Jhesu shorte hir lyves
That noght wol be governed by hir wyves;
And olde and angry nygardes of dispence,
God sende hem soone verray pestilence!

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Tale. The Wife of Bath Alison prays to Jesus to send husbands who are meek, young and vigorous in bed. She prays also that wives outlive their husbands. And for husbands who won’t be governed by their wives, she asks God to shorten their lives. And those who are old and miserly, she asks God to send them pestilence!

He hadde eek wenches at his retenue,
That, wheither that sir Robert or sir Huwe,
Or Jakke, or Rauf, or whoso that it were
That lay by hem, they tolde it in his ere.
Thus was the wenche and he of oon assent,
And he wolde fecche a feyned mandement,
And somne hem to chapitre bothe two,
And pile the man, and lete the wenche go.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Friar’s Tale. The dishonest Summoner employs prostitutes to reveal the names of the customers they have sex with, so that the Summoner can rob the men using a fake order to the archdeacon’s court forged by him.

The frere ariseth up ful curteisly,
And hire embraceth in his armes narwe,
And kiste hire sweete, and chirketh as a sparwe
With his lyppes: "Dame," quod he, "right weel,
As he that is youre servant every deel,
Thanked be God, that yow yaf soule and lyf!
Yet saugh I nat this day so fair a wyf
In al the chirche, God so save me!"

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Summoner’s Tale. The Friar embraces Thomas’s wife tightly in his arms, kisses her sweetly and flirts with her. Using a simile, we are told how the Friar chirps like a sparrow to her that he how he had not seen so fair a wife in all the church that day. There is a hint here of the Friar’s sexual interest in Thomas’s wife, forbidden and sinful territory to a churchman who had taken a vow of celibacy.

For out of doute this olde poure man
Was evere in suspect of hir mariage;
For evere he demed, sith that it bigan,
That whan the lord fulfild hadde his corage,
Hym wolde thynke it were a disparage
To his estaat so lowe for t’alighte,
And voyden hire as soone as ever he myghte.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Clerk’s Tale. Janicula was suspicious from the get-go about nobleman Walter’s intentions and the survivability of his marriage to the old man’s daughter Griselda, a peasant girl. As soon as Walter had satisfied his desires, he would think it a degradation to his rank to stoop so low, and would get rid of her as soon as he could, Janicula believed.

A worthy knyght, that born was of Pavye,
In which he lyved in greet prosperitee;
And sixty yeer a wyflees man was hee,
And folwed ay his bodily delyt
On wommen, ther as was his appetyt.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Merchant’s Tale. The tale begins with references to excessive sex. The lusty knight January has lived to the age of sixty without having married and indulges his physical appetite on women as he pleases and without restraint. His description of a "worthy" knight is ironic and meant to be mocking.

Preyinge oure Lord to graunten him that he
Mighte ones knowe of thilke blisful lyf
That is bitwixe an housbonde and his wyf,
And for to lyve under that hooly boond
With which that first God man and womman bond.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Merchant’s Tale. The old libertine knight January wants to give up his wild bachelor ways. He longs to settle down to what he sees as that blissful life between husband and wife, and live under the holy bond created by God to join man and woman. January’s idea of marriage being a sanctified path to a guaranteed life of pleasure and lawful sex speaks volumes about his foolishness.

But certeynly, a yong thyng may men gye,
Right as men may warm wex with handes plye.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Merchant’s Tale. Old man January thinks he has the perfect solution to a successful marriage. Marry a "young thing" so can mold a melleable and passive young wife into submission. He deludes himself into thinking she will be just like warm wax in the hands of an experienced old man like him to guide. Is this master of self-delusion lying to himself, or is he really that stupid?

I wol noon oold wyf han right for this cause.
For if so were I hadde swich myschaunce
That I in hire ne koude han no plesaunce,
Thanne sholde I lede my lyf in avoutrye
And go streight to the devel whan I dye.
Ne children sholde I none upon hire geten;
Yet were me levere houndes had me eten
Than that myn heritage sholde falle
In straunge hand, and this I telle yow alle.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Merchant’s Tale. January sets out his criteria for a wife: she must be able to give him sexual pleasure and provide him with an heir. An old wife is out, because he would end up leading a life of adultery and go straight to the devil in hell. Also she could give him no children and he would rather that hounds ate him than his wealth and heritage should fall into a stranger’s hand.

Though I be hoor, I fare as dooth a tree
That blosmeth er that fruyt ywoxen bee;
And blosmy tree nys neither drye ne deed.
I feele me nowhere hoor but on myn heed;
Myn herte and alle my lymes been as grene
As laurer thurgh the yeer is for to sene.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Merchant’s Tale. January blindly refuses to acknowledge his old age and compares himself to a blossoming tree. Though he is white-haired, he fares like a tree that blossoms before the fruit is grown. In fact he boasts that he is old nowhere but on his white head, his heart and limbs are as green as laurel. But he is being dishonest when you consider the aphrodisiacs that he must take on his wedding night and the deep sleep he falls into after sex!
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