Answer:
Before the Wife begins her tale, she shares information about her life and her experiences in a prologue. The Wife of Bath begins her lengthy prologue by announcing that she has always followed the rule of experience rather than authority. Having already had five husbands "at the church door," she has experience enough to make her an expert.
The Wife of Bath uses the prologue to explain the basis of her theories about experience versus authority and to introduce the point that she illustrates in her tale: The thing women most desire is complete control ("sovereignty") over their husbands.
Chaucer's Wife of Bath is perhaps the most familiar and memorable character in The Canterbury Tales. She does not hesitate to speak her mind and defend her five marriages. The tale she tells ends with the woman having sovereignty, which is her own goal in life.
Critics such as Carolyn Dinshaw in her book Chaucer’s Sexual Poetics have argued that the Wife of Bath represents feminist values in that she challenges patriarchy and gives voice to female desire.
Explanation:
