Her prologue is like a bold challenge to the knight in her company. She anticipates Shakespeare's Katerina in the Taming of the Shrew. Just as Katerina challenges Petruchio, so too does the Wife of Bath appear to be challenging the only true man she has likely ever met: one who is in command of himself and thus able to command others. She is like the ermine in Leonardo's painting the Lady with the Ermine (1490). The ermine is a nasty, vicious animal that cannot be picked up and held -- and yet the lady in the portrait holds it with perfect composure. In other words, she has learned to control her passions. The Wife of Bath has not done so: she promotes sensuality and lust and refuses to be harnessed. Only when the man finally submits to her will does she assume that she is happy. But a man in...
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