Guest Editor's Introduction The Thousand and One Nights, commonly called in England The Arabian Nights' Entertainments, a new translation from the Arabic with copious notes by Edward William Eane, Hon. M.R.S.E. etc., Author of 'The Modern Egyptian." Illustrated by many hundred engravings on...

Chaucer and his English Contemporaries: Prologue and Tales in 'The Canterbury Tales'. By W. A. DAVENPORT. Basingstoke: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press. x + 245 pp. 42.50 [pounds sterling] (paperbound 14.99 [pounds sterling]). This book began, W. A. Davenport tells us,...

In the following essay, Cox explores the sexual connotations of the term “glossing,” highlights the double entendres in The Wife of Bath's Prologue, and investigates the link between sexual fulfillment and control of language. Cox maintains that although the Wife of Bath seeks to fight the patriarchal system, her lack of feminine discourse forces her to use male definitions, and ultimately she is unsuccessful in self-definition.

In the following essay, Morrison asserts that, through The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale, Chaucer is seeking to authenticate the use of English vernacular as a legitimate language for writing, maintaining that they “can be read as addressing the issues of the vernacular and the role female audiences play in receiving and passing on translations of authoritative texts, as well as vindicating Chaucer's authority as a vernacular author.”

In the following essay, Blamires contrasts the Wife of Bath to Blanche from The Book of the Duchess, studies Christine de Pizan's theories on the masculine and feminine definitions of largesse and liberality, and uncovers the stereotype common in Chaucer's time that women were miserly and selfish.

A discussion concerning whether or not the character of "The Wife of Bath," by Chaucer, conforms to medieval stereotypes regarding women.

Essay explores the double standards and stereotypes in "The Wife of Bath" by Geoffrey Chaucer.

An essay about The Wife of Bath