The bestselling American author Orson Scott Card once said: "Metaphors can contain the most truth in the least space." The Canterbury Tales were written more than 600 years before Card made that profound statement, but clearly Chaucer would agree with Card's statement. Specifically, in “The Wife of Bath's Tale” one can see the use of metaphors for making general statements in a relatively short story. For the Wife of Bath, the collection of metaphors in her tale creates an allegory that demonstrates the statements she made in her prologue – an apology of sorts. Through the rhetoric used in both the prologue and the narrative that follows, the Wife hints at the need for an explanation and defense of her views beyond the narrative of her marriages in the prologue. Furthermore, numerous similarities can be found in the story between the wife and the new wife, particularly regarding the story of her courtship and marriage to Jankin. There are many important parallels between the Wife of Bath and the Wife of the Tale; this analysis will focus on the concept of mystery and magic as well as coordinating ideas and experiences of “maistrie”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Before discussing the apology itself, you need to understand the desire that drives it. In her prologue, The Wife of Bath brazenly reveals a number of controversial views on sex, women, and marriage. He is evidently aware of his questionable opinions; for example, he consciously modifies his prologue by saying, “So that the clerks will be kind to me he got angry” (125). The Wife's effort to at least acknowledge this difference of opinion demonstrates that she is aware of the need to demonstrate her beliefs. These tendentious comments of the Wife in her prologue purport to arise purely from experience: "Experience, though noon auctoritee/Was in this world, would have been enough for me" (1-2). However, when it is to his advantage, he does not refrain from citing authorities which he deems unnecessary. For example, the Wife quotes Ptolemy's Algamest in the prologue. Likewise, in his story, he goes out of his way to use Ovid's story of Midas and his wife to prove his point about women not being able to keep a secret. Clearly, even though the Wife believes that experience is superior, she still knows the power and importance of traditional, written authority. The Wife's frequent allusions and quotations are not the only factors that illustrate that the goal of her narrative is one of apology. He references Ptolemy, saying, “He who will not be warred by other men, / by him other men will be corrected” (180-181). Clearly, The Wife is bringing the public's attention to the idea of ​​learning from another's experience. The experience to which the Wife refers cannot simply be that which she shares through the history of her five marriages; he begins this digression in the prologue by saying: "my story is not bigona:/ No, you'll drink another ton/ As I go" (169-171). The Wife doesn't just say that its prologue might change listeners' minds; he says he'll get his "tale" done before he leaves. Evidently the Wife means her entire speech, not just the account of the five marriages in the prologue. One might object to the conclusion that this Ptolemaic idea demonstrates its desire to explain itself; this is because in line 192 of the Wife's prologue she says, "Per myn entente nis but for to pleye." However, when considering the evidence to the contrary observed so far, this statement seems more like an attempt to cover himself in case someone takes offense at his attempt to influence him insuch a radical direction. So, because of the obvious need to prove the validity of her claims beyond her own experience, the Wife uses the story as an allegorical apologia demonstrating her authority in matters of courtship and marriage. The allegorical part of the Wife's apology is found in the metaphors that connect the Wife's prologue and her story. One of these parallels between the prologue of the Wife of Bath and its tale is the use of mystery and magic or, more simply, tricks. The mysterious aspect is seen in the prologue when the Wife discusses her courtship with Jankin. According to the Wife's account, one of her first meetings with Jankin occurred in a field: “That clerk Jankin and my gossip Alis/And I myself went to the fields” (548-549). This aspect of the “pleye” in nature is found in the Wife's story. First, the Bride stages the magic that lies in mysterious nature, or at least that which was there before “of the grete charitee and the prayers/Of limitours and othere saint freres” (9-10). Nature still plays a role when the Knight first meets the woman who, unknown to him, would soon become his wife: "And in his world he happened to ride, / With all this care, under a forest side ... No creature said that bar lyfe,/Save on the grene he saugh sittinge a wyf” (133-134, 141-142) The magical and mysterious way of nature serves as a catalyst in the tale of the Knight's Wife and his new wife while serving a similar purpose in the story of the Wife and Jankin. The magic of nature lies not only in the “elf queen with her merry company” (4), who according to the Wife also lived in the forests; magic of the forest to lure the knight into its depths. As the knight rides near the forest, he sees many ladies dancing: “Where he saugh upon a daunce go/Of Ladies foure and twenty and yet mo” (135-136). that approaches, however, they all seem to disappear; when he arrives at the place where he saw the group of dancing ladies, all but one have mysteriously “vanished” (139). The only one left, of course, is the old woman who will soon become his new wife. She knows that he wouldn't come and talk to her if she was the only one sitting in the forest, as she is very ugly and old. The Wife describes his new wife by saying, “No one can conceive a more disgusting sight” (144). Then, to ensure that the Knight comes to her, she uses the mirage of dancing women to attract his attention. The rhetoric in this scene implies some magical deception at hand, such as the use of “disappeared” (140). While magical devices may have been involved, the new wife's biggest trick lies outside the realm of magic. The new wife makes a deal with the Knight: she saves his life by telling him the answer to the question "What is that woman he desires most" (49) - and, in exchange, he must marry her. Of course he didn't know that that would be his request; he only learns this after his life is spared for finding the answer of "sovereyntee" (182). Clearly, the new wife intends to deceive the Knight into marrying her. Furthermore, the new wife is proud of the complicated agreement she makes with the Knight. While married, the Wife narrates that the Knight “walweth and turns to and fro./His olde wyf lay smylinge evermo,” (229-230). Despite her husband's unhappiness, the new wife never regrets being able to convince this man to marry her. Likewise, the Wife uses tricks to lure Jankin; telling Jankin that she had dreamed of him killing her to make him believe he "had enchanted her" (575). The Wife seems to be proud of this lie; he openly admits that "it was all fake, I didn't dream it fornothing" (582). In this way, both the Wife and the new wife in the story use tricks to attract men to them. These tricks are just the beginning of another parallel between the stories. The Wife and the Wife in the story they not only use mystery and magic to play tricks on the men they desire; these tricks work just as intended. The wives' tricks are clearly a way to obtain "maistrie", the answer to the knight's quest and one of the themes main characters of "The Wife's Tale". For example, the Wife's trick of making Jankin believe he has enchanted her through the dream narrative appears to be one of the key events leading to their marriage. Likewise, when the new wife in the tale she uses the image of the women dancing in the forest to lure the knight into talking to her, it works The knight falls for the trick and rides into the forest, only to talk to the old woman, not the group of women he saw dancing. As discussed above, the deception that leads the Knight to his new wife is only the beginning; the real trick comes with the deal. The new wife uses her life-saving response to get him to marry her. Looking at the corresponding examples in the Wife's prologue and her narrative, it is clear that the Wife supports this use of deception to gain power in a relationship. Tricks aren't the only way to become a master; both wives also use their age as a major factor in marriage. The Wife is the older woman in his last two marriages. This detail is especially noted when discussing his courtship with Jankin; the Wife mentions in her prologue that Jankin is half her age: "He was, I think, twenty years of winter, / And I was forty, if I can't wait; / But still I always had a coltes tooth " (600-602). The new wife in the story is also an older woman. The fact that she is "dirty, old, and poor" is mentioned several times by the narrator, the Knight, and the new wife herself. Her age becomes an obvious advantage when the new wife makes her speech to the Knight. The new wife does not hesitate to mention "ye gentlemen of honor/seyn that men have a favor for an old man" (353-354); honor and respect from elders is likely a form of mastery over the younger person's actions. If not mastery itself, honor is complementary to mastery and is therefore still an important component in this regard. Of course, the Wife uses these parallel examples to demonstrate that being an older woman can have its advantages; especially during this time period, the Wife believes that being an older woman can lead to the ever-important “maistrie” in marriage. For both the Wife and the new wife, cheats and age are two factors that pave the way for power in a relationship. However, the similarities don't end with these two aspects of acquiring mastery; both wives eventually achieve their goal of sovereignty after a dispute of some kind. For the wife and Jankin it was a physical fight, with punches thrown from both sides. The wife ends this scene by saying, “He yaf me al the brydel in myn hond” (813). Furthermore, the Wife notes that “After that day we had no more arguments” (822). In summary, the wife and Jankin argue, but from this dispute comes peace in the marriage and power in the hands of the wife. Likewise, a conflict arises between the new wife and the Knight just before the new wife is granted sovereignty. The Knight is very unhappy with the situation and often points out the unfavorable characteristics of the new wife. This verbal beating parallels Jankin's physical beating of his wife. After the Knight explains his discontent, the new wife explains everything.