Irony in the Wife of Bath's Tale.

Author / Editor
Slade, Tony.

Title
Irony in the Wife of Bath's Tale.

Published
Modern Language Review 64 (1969): 241-47.

Description
Treats WBT as an "expression of her personality," focusing on the "matter-of-fact" tone of the tale, its humor, and its "tolerant sexual irony." However, Chaucer undercuts "her views and reactions" ironically, particularly in the pillow lecture of gentilesse which is "commonplace and laboured," followed by a "sentimental" conclusion.

Chaucer Subjects
Wife of Bath and Her Tale