The Wife of Bath's 'Prologue,' LL. 328-336, and Boccaccio's Decameron

Author / Editor
Finlayson, John.

Title
The Wife of Bath's 'Prologue,' LL. 328-336, and Boccaccio's Decameron

Published
Neophilologus 83: 313-16, 1999.

Description
Contends that the Wife's defense against the charges of adultery (i.e., sex is a lantern that may be shared by many without depriving the owner) is a combination of a simile in the Roman de la Rose and a more exact parallel in Decameron 6.7, where Madonna Filippa defends herself against similar charges.

Chaucer Subjects
Wife of Bath and Her Tale.
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations.