The Wife of Bath's 'Queynte Fantasye'

Author / Editor
Levy, Bernard S.

Title
The Wife of Bath's 'Queynte Fantasye'

Published
Chaucer Review 4.2 (1969): 106-22.

Description
Argues that the discussion of gentility by the Loathly Lady in WBP effects a change in the knight's moral vision, with no physical change in the Lady. Imagery and allusions to Baptism reinforce the point and run parallel to similar concerns in WBP, where virtue is associated with sexual gratification, especially through plays on the word "thyng." Both WBP and WBT reflect the Wife's view that female sexual mastery is a good thing.

Chaucer Subjects
Wife of Bath and Her Tale
Language and Word Studies