Sire olde kaynard, is this thyn array?
Why is my neighebores wyf so gay?
She is honoured overal ther she gooth;
I sitte at hoom; I have no thrifty clooth.
What dostow at my neighebores hous?
Is she so fair? Artow so amorous?
What rowne ye with oure mayde? Benedicite!
Sire olde lecchour, lat thy japes be!
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue.
In her battle of the sexes, the Wife of Bath replays how she exercised control of her three old husbands. She harangues her husband, showing contempt for him and challenging his male authority. She complains that one neighbor’s wife is better dressed than she and looked up to by all. She queries why her husband is spending so much time at her neighbor’s house and also whispering to her maid, calling him a lecher and suggesting he is lusting after them.
In her battle of the sexes, the Wife of Bath replays how she exercised control of her three old husbands. She harangues her husband, showing contempt for him and challenging his male authority. She complains that one neighbor’s wife is better dressed than she and looked up to by all. She queries why her husband is spending so much time at her neighbor’s house and also whispering to her maid, calling him a lecher and suggesting he is lusting after them.