1. Since the Renaissance inherited the misogynistic views of the Middle Ages, the anti-feminist allusions in Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale" prepare students for the obstacles and the frustrations that Renaissance women had to face.

• In her Prologue, the Wife defends her five marriages by citing scripture in her defense. By defending herself in this way, she is emulating generations of men who quoted scripture as the basis of misogyny. In lines 10-12 she refers to the argument that Jesus must have disliked marriage because he only went to one. She refutes this argument by referring to Genesis l:28 to be fruitful and multiply, to John 4:6 in which Jesus reproves a Samaritan woman for not being married to her present companion although she had been married previously, to Matthew 19.5 in which a man is encouraged to leave his mother and his father and to cling to his wife, to I Kings ll.3 in which King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, and to Lamech, to Matthew 1:9-21 where Jesus commands a rich man to give all his wealth to the poor in order to lead a perfect life. The Wife argues that similarly in order to lead a perfect life one must be virtuous, but then not everyone wants to be perfect.
• The Wife also argues against the negative portrayal of women in the Old Testament, particularly of Eve and Delilah. She contends in lines 699-701 of the Prologue: "By God, if wommen hadden writen stories/ As clerkes han within hir oratories,/ They wolde han writen of men more wikkednesse; Than al the mark of Adam may redresse." In other words, women are evil agents in the Bible because men were the authors.
• She also inadvertently illustrates the misogynistic stereotype of the lecherous, loquacious, deceitful, unreasonable woman. In her Prologue she flaunts her lustfulness: "In wifhood wol I use myn instrument/ As freely as my Makere hat it sent' (155-57), "Gat-teeothed was I" (609) "I hadde the beste quoniam [sex organ] Mighte be," (614), and "Venus me yaf my lust, my likerousnesse," (617). Complementing her lechery is her love of ostentatious clothing, pearls and jewelry, and gadding about, all activities prhibited in Timothy. Her talkativeness she illustrates not only through the length of her prologue but also through self-admission: "And of my tonge a verray jangleresse," (644). She takes pride in her guile and ability to dupe her husbands: ""For half so boldely can ther no man/Swere and lie as a woman can" (233-34) and "For al swich wit is yiven us in oure birthe:/ Deceite, weeping, spinning God hath yive/ To wommen kindely whil they may live" (406-408). She illustrates female irrationality when she attempts to reason that men should allow women to have dominion in marriage since they are more rational and patient. In line 525 she unconsciously portrays women as irrational when she states that they want what is denied them: "Forbde us thing, and that desiren we;"
• In the Tale the Wife makes the overpowering point that everyone would be happier if women were granted dominion in marriage. By making this statement, the Wife shocks; she desires not equality, which would be astounding, but actual superiority over men. However, she weakens her case for women when the Hag exemplifies the negative qualities that misogynists equate with females: lechery, deception, and talkativeness.

2. Even though the Wife herself is not a paragon of female virtue, she does foreshadow the Renaissance woman's frustration and attempts to redefine women.