The Wife of Bath's Tale

What responses does the knight receive to his question before the old woman gives him the correct answer?

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What are two arguments that the old woman uses in response to the knight’s complaint about her poverty?

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According to the Wife of Bath, why can't people see elves or fairies anymore?

• They lack the imagination that they had in days of yore.

• They were all imprisoned in The Tree of Sleep by Morgana Le Fay.

• The prayers of holy friars have purged the air of elves and fairies.

• The fairies and elves long ago migrated to the Far East, where life is “brighter.”

What problem does the knight find when he starts asking women the question of the riddle?

• He finds that most refuse to speak to him because they know of his crime.

• None of them ever agrees on the answer.

• They gave him frivolous responses, obviously not taking him seriously.

• They give him misleading responses, hoping he will fail in his quest.

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What do the twenty-four women do as the knight approaches them?

• They encircle him, dancing a seduction ritual, hoping to ensnare him.

• They run away into the forest because they are wearing nothing but fig leaves.

• They attempt to lure him into the dark forest.

• They all vanish, leaving behind one foul old woman.

What does the hag say she wants in return for providing the answer to the knight's riddle?

• All his worldly possessions

• To grant her next request, if it should it be in his power

• Three kisses each night for as long as she lives

• A place of honor in King Arthur’s court

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What defense does the hag provide for her poverty and her ugliness? In other words, why is her ugliness an advantage to her husband, the knight?

• No other man will ever be attracted to her; therefore, she will by necessity remain a loyal wife forever.

• She will always have the pity of fellow human beings, especially those who honor the aged.

• Since her ugliness largely stems from her old age, it is accompanied by wisdom.

• He will never be distracted or “dragged down” by her physical beauty, which is only superficial and matters little anyway.

The hag asks the knight if he would rather have his wife old and ugly but faithful and loyal OR young and pretty but unfaithful and untrue. How does the knight respond to the hag’s question?

• He says he wants his wife young and pretty, and that he can train her to be faithful.

• He says he doesn’t really want an old hag as a wife, but he’d rather his wife be faithful.

• He says both are terrible choices: He wants a wife pretty and faithful.

• He says he doesn’t care which, and that she should make the decision for him.

What does the hag teach the young knight about gentility in her bedroom lecture to him?

• A gentile husband always lets his wife have the upper hand.

•  A man cannot be genteel by upbringing; he is simply born gentile by virtue of his family.

• A man is not born genteel because of his noble family; rather gentility comes from cooperating with the grace of God.

• Gentility corrupts character; do not aspire to be a gentleman or you may confuse ugliness with beauty.

What did the old woman end up asking the knight to do ?

• To capture her a fairy

• To give her a piece of jewlery

• To take her to a town

• To marry her

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