The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale (Modern Verse Translation) characters

Also known as Alisoun

Appears from the start

An experienced cloth maker and pilgrim from near Bath who introduces her tale with an expansive account of her five marriages. She argues from lived experience, scripture, and verbal skill that women should not be required to surrender authority over their bodies, property, or marriages.

Appears from the start

The Wife of Bath's fifth husband, a clerk much younger than she is. He delights in reading accounts of supposedly wicked wives, making his book and his views about women's conduct a source of conflict within their marriage.

Appears from the start

The Wife of Bath's fourth husband. He is closer to her own age than her first three husbands and is unfaithful, prompting her to counter his behavior by making him jealous before his death.

First appears in chapter 2

A young knight in King Arthur's court who commits a violent crime against a woman and is condemned to death. The queen offers him a chance to live if he can discover what women most desire, turning his fate into a test of whether he can learn to respect women's authority.

Also known as The Loathly Lady

First appears in chapter 2

An old and impoverished woman whom the knight meets near the end of his search. She promises the answer that will save him in exchange for a future favor, and she is confident enough in her wisdom to defend her age, poverty, and lack of rank.

First appears in chapter 2

Arthur's queen, who intervenes after the knight is sentenced and asks the king to place judgment in her hands. She sets the question that determines whether the knight will be pardoned and presides over his return to court.

First appears in chapter 2

The legendary ruler whose court provides the setting for the Wife of Bath's tale. He initially permits the law's death sentence for the knight but grants the queen's request to decide the offender's fate.