A Tale of Wonder: A Source Study of "The Wife of Bath's Tale."

Author / Editor
Eisner, Sigmund.

Title
A Tale of Wonder: A Source Study of "The Wife of Bath's Tale."

Published
Wexford, [Ire.]: John English, 1957.

Physical Description
148 pp.

Description
Identifies and traces developments of the sources and analogues of WBT, emphasizing the transmission of Irish roots through Welsh elaboration, Arthurian development in Brittany and France, Middle English analogues, and various parallels in international folklore from Ireland to Persia. Includes attention to the history of scholarship of WBT and its appropriateness to the Wife of Bath, along with analysis of particular motifs such as transformation, sovereignty, the loathly lady, life-questions, "fier baiser" (daring kiss), rape, and what women most desire.

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