What is it that women want most in the world? Unlikely enough, the answer to this question lies hidden within a small portion of The Canterbury Tales, a medieval piece of literature. Chaucer identifies the significance of marriage in a woman’s life, especially women from that time period, to be of the utmost concern. This, in turn, provides an important fragment of evidence when it comes to resolving a medieval woman’s conundrum. The significance of sovereignty in marriage as it is conveyed through The Wife of Bath’s Tale asserts unto itself a Byzantine-Christian view of eros and beauty that, as such, implies a deeper cosmological significance of marriage made apparent by a spiritual reading of the tale. Theologians like that of Gregory of Nyssa hold that the nature of beauty is not simply innate of a person or object, but that beauty comes from the goodness of the thing (Medieval Philosophy 136). In this sense, beauty can be seen as a sort of gateway to divinity. Furthermore, a marriage between man and woman is meant to be a relationship based on respect and reciprocity. It is meant to grant two persons the ability to combine their souls and thus experience greater spiritual enlightenment. Though focusing on a medieval perspective of marriage, issues of inner beauty and sovereignty concerning affairs of the heart remain relevant to the modern day reader and their ability to carry these themes of goodness and respect into their own relationships. 

Likening this concept to The Wife of Bath’s Tale, there are multiple readings that are able to be studied in relation to beauty and marriage. Off on a quest to find what women want most in the world, the protagonist, an unnamed knight of King Arthur’s round table, is resolved to find a woman who can give him the answer. After a long and unfruitful journey, he happens upon a haggard woman who finally promises to reveal the secret of what women desire most; of course, she will only divulge this information to the knight should he agree to marry her (The Wife of Bath’s Tale 245). And so he presents this woman before the Queen and court, relaying the one thing women desire most: “Wommen desiren to have sovereynetee as wel over hir housbond as hir love, and for to been in maistrie hym above” (The Wife of Bath’s Tale 247). Above all else, sovereignty over home and husband as well as love is the greatest wish for womankind. By presenting this wisdom before the royal court, the knight has been saved at the hands of matriarchal wisdom when it is his very violence against women that placed him in such a dire situation in the first place. Nevertheless, the knight shows nothing but ungratefulness and sorrow upon his marriage to the ugly woman. He who cannot look beyond the ugly facade and realize the beauty of goodness within is spiritually immature. For “beauty will be but the hand to lead us to the desire for that Beauty of whom ‘the heavens declare glory (Ps 18:1)’ (Medieval Philosophy 136)”. The knight who has limited his view of beauty to a love of the flesh once again displays an ineptitude when it comes to deciphering the presence of God within all things natural and good. 

On their first night as husband and wife, she gives the knight an ultimatum: she will either be of ghastly appearance, but faithful and good, or she will become beautiful beyond comparison, but deceitful and coquettish (The Wife of Bath’s Tale 253). Regardless of his answer, there seems to be no favorable outcome. However, at long last the knight utilizes a fraction of the feminine wisdom gifted to him over the course of this quest and places himself within his wife’s wise governance. He says, “Cheseth youreself which may be moost plesance and moost honour to yow and me also. I do no fors the wheither of the two, for as yow liketh, it suffiseth me” (The Wife of Bath’s Tale). As the knight has learned, what women want most in the world is simply the right to hold control in their marriages. Mastery over one’s husband may seem in some ways childish, but the notion itself signifies a deeper need for respect and equal parts dominion within a relationship. “Man [humanity] was the image and likeness, as has been said, of the sovereign power over all beings (Medieval Philosophy 138), notes Gregory of Nyssa. His words support the idea that man and woman were created in the image of God, thus making man and woman equal in the eyes of the church. Subsequently, there persists a mystical obligation to one’s partner that, if not fulfilled, can hold devastating consequences. Harkening back to the beginning of the tale, the knight was forced to go on such a quest as repentance for the sin of raping a woman. In such an aggressive assault on womankind, he disrespects the personhood of God’s creations, thus insinuating a direct insult to God. Thankfully the knight is made to learn his lesson throughout the course of the tale and becomes an agent of goodness within his marriage. 

Living in modern society carries with it many amazing advancements both socially and technologically. From feminism to the medical revolution, there exist any multitude of movements to be grateful for. Be that as it may, present day issues can often get bogged down by a faux progressivist mindset, and it can be helpful to look back in history for ancient answers to modern problems. Taking into consideration the intensely patriarchal ideals of medieval society, there are still some lessons on the spiritual significance of marriage that seems to be missing from today’s definition of the word. Marriage is not only the joining of two persons legally, but an intertwining of their souls which seeks to elevate people into a higher level of spirituality. The Wife of Bath’s Tale imposes such ideas on the divine sanctity of marriage and how, in many ways, it is capable of uncovering the most beautiful and good parts of human nature.