Odd thing about Wife of Bath-on the day she was banned, I received one of those Incoming Friend Requests. I have no idea what to do with it at this point, it just sits there collecting dust in my message bin. It seems strange to put her on a list if she isn't here anymore; yet, I feel it would be wrong to just delete the request. She seemed so nice.
When first I was confronted (and confounded) with The Canterbury Tales, I was a 10th grader who somehow found his way into Honors English (yeah, it stunned me as well). To make matters worse we were offered some torturous earlier version where we had a Wyf of Bathe and language that was hard to decipher:
Experience, through no auctoritee
Were in this world, were right ynough for me
To speke of wo that is in mariage,
For, lordynges, since I twelf yeer was of age,
Y-thonked be God that is eterne alive
Housbondes at chirche dore I have had fyve:
For I so ofte have y-wedded be;
And alle were worthi men in there degree.
But me was told certayn not long agone is,
That since that Christ had never gone but once
To weddyng in the Cane of Galilee
That by the same example taught he me,
That I shold wedded be but oonly once.
Herken, eek, what a sharp word for the nonce.
Beside a welle, Jhesus, God and man,
Spak in reprove of the Samaritan:
Thou hast y-had fyve housbondes, quoth he,
And that same man the which that hath now thee
Is not thyn housbonde; thus seyde he certeyn.
What that he mente ther by, I can not sayn;
But that I axe why the fifte man
Was noon housbond to the Samaritan
How many might she have in mariage?
Yet herd I never tellen in myn age
Upon this number deffinicioun.
Men may divine and glosen up and doun.
But wel I wot, withouten eny lye,
God bad us for to wax and multiplie;
That gentil tixt can I wel understonde.
Ek wel I wot, he sayde, myn housebonde
Schulde lete fader and moder, and folwe me;
But of no noumber mencioun made he,
Of bygamye or of octogomye;
Why schulde men speken of that vilonye?
Lo hier the wise kyng daun Salamon,
I trow he hadde wifes mo than oon,
As wolde God it were leful unto me
It was enough to make me hurl myself down a flight of stairs (accidentally of course, all three times). I eventually read a more modern version and found it quite enjoyable.
. I have seen her name on many, maybe even most, of my friend's profiles. I was wondering why they still have her on their list.
