For Ann Harris only

How does the Wife of Bath “control” husband number four (481–494)? What do her methods reveal about the Wife?

In lines 481-494 the Wife of Bath tell us about her fourth husband and that he cheated on her many times with other women. With an honest words, the Wife tell us that she controlled her husband number four by making him jealous. She explained that “ I made him across of the same wood” which means that she tried to make him drink from the same cup that she tasted. The wife of Bath discovers that making her husband jealous and angry will stop him from committing infidelity. She states that, her goal was not to have a relationship with other men, but to make her fourth husband jealous by flirting with other men in front of him. This way her husband must suffer from psychological pain like anger and jealousy since he may start to think that she is cheating on him.

The Wife of Bath method of paying her husband back reveal that she likes to gain control over her husbands. Also, I feel that she think that she has the right to torture her husband because of her assertive personality, but nobody has the right to make her suffer. Even though she used her sexual powers to gain control over her other husbands, she chooses to make this husband jealous by only flirting with other men. To be honest, I am not sure if the wife of bath was honest in these lines. From reading this poem she mentions that she love sex. However, she is now showing herself to us as a loyal wife that only wants to give her husband a lesson by making him jealous.