Bestselling American author Orson Scott Card once said: “Metaphors have the power to contain the most truth in the least space possible. » The Canterbury Tales were written over 600 years before Card made this profound statement, but Chaucer would clearly agree with Card's assertion. Specifically, in "The Wife of Bath's Tale" we can see the use of metaphors to make general statements in a relatively short story. For the Wife of Bath, the collection of metaphors in her story creates an allegory that proves the claims she made in her prologue – an apology of sorts. Through the rhetoric used in both the prologue and the narrative that follows, the wife alludes to the need for an explanation and defense of her views beyond the narration of her marriages in the prologue . Additionally, many similarities can be found between the bride and the new bride in the tale, particularly regarding the account of her courtship and marriage to Jankin. There are several major parallels between the Wife of Bath and the wife of the story; This analysis will focus on the concept of mystery and magic as well as the coordinated ideas and experiences of “maistry”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Before discussing the apology itself, one must understand the desire behind it. In her prologue, the Wife of Bath unapologetically reveals a number of controversial opinions on sex, women and marriage. Clearly, she is aware of her questionable opinions; for example, she consciously modifies her prologue by saying, “So that the clerks may be nat with me” (125). The wife's efforts to at least acknowledge this difference of opinion shows that she is aware of the need to prove her beliefs. These tendentious comments from the Wife in her prologue claim to arise purely from experience: “Experience, though noon auctoritee/Was in this world, was enough for me” (1-2). However, when it is to her advantage, she does not refrain from citing authorities she considers unnecessary. For example, the Woman cites Ptolemy's Algamest in the prologue. Likewise, in her story, she strives to use Ovid's story of Midas and his wife to prove her point that women are not capable of keeping a secret. Clearly, even if the wife believes experience to be superior, she still knows the power and importance of traditional written authority. The wife's frequent allusions and quotes are not the only factors that illustrate that the purpose of her story is apologetic. She refers to Ptolemy by saying: “He who cannot make war against other men,/It is by him that other men will be corrected” (180-181). Clearly, The Wife draws the audience's attention to the idea of ​​learning from the experience of others. The experience the wife is referring to cannot simply be one she shares from the history of her five marriages; she begins this digression in the prologue by saying: “my story is not bigoone:/ No, you will drink another ton/ Uh, I'm going” (169-171). The Woman doesn't just say that her prologue might change the listeners' minds; she says her “tale” will do it before she leaves. Clearly, the Bride is speaking about the entirety of her speech, not just the stories of the five marriages in her prologue. One might object that this Ptolemaic idea proves his desire to explain himself; this is because in line 192 of the prologue of Woman, she says: “For my understanding nis but for pleye”. However, if we considercontrary evidence seen so far, this statement seems more like an attempt to cover himself in case anyone is offended by his attempt to influence them in such a radical direction. Thus, because of the obvious need to prove the validity of her statements beyond her own experience, the wife uses the story as an allegorical excuse demonstrating her authority in matters of courtship and marriage. The allegorical part of the Wife's apology is found in the metaphors which connect the Wife's prologue and her story. One of the parallels between the prologue of The Wife of Bath and its narrative is the use of mystery and magic or, more simply, tricks. The mysterious aspect is visible in the prologue when the woman discusses her courtship with Jankin. According to the wife's account, one of her first encounters with Jankin took place in a field: "This employee of Jankin and my gossip Alis/And I went to the feldes" (548-549). This aspect of “pleye” in nature is found in the tale of the wife. First, the Bride depicts the magic that resides in mysterious nature, or at least that which existed before “the great charity and prayers/Of the limiters and other holy brethren” (9-10). Nature plays a role again when the knight first meets the woman who, unbeknownst to him, would soon be his bride: "And in his path he happened to ride,/In all these cares, under a forest …No creature heard him that bar lyfe,/Save on the grene he saugh sat a wyf” (133-134, 141-142). The magical and mysterious nature acts as a catalyst in the Wife's story about the Knight and his new bride, while serving a similar purpose in the Wife and Jankin's story. The magic of nature lies not only in the “queen of the elves with her lovely company” (4), who, according to the woman, lived in the forests; the new bride also uses forest magic to lure the knight into its depths. As the knight rides through the forest, he sees many ladies dancing: “Where he cried at a leap/Ladies of twenty-four years and upward” (135-136). However, as he approaches, they all seem to disappear; by the time he arrives at the place where he saw the group of dancing girls, all but one have mysteriously “disappeared” (139). The only one left, of course, is the old woman who will soon be his new wife. She knows he wouldn't come and talk to her if she was the only one sitting in the forest, because she is very ugly and old. The Wife describes the new wife by saying, “No man could conceive a more foul creature” (144). So to ensure that the Knight will come to her, she uses the mirage of the dancers to attract his attention. The rhetoric of this scene involves a magical trick, such as the use of “gone” (140). While there may be magical devices involved, the new bride's greatest trick lies outside the realm of magic. The new wife makes a deal with the knight: she saves his life by giving him the answer to the question “What is the thing women desire most” (49) – and, in exchange, he must marry her. Of course, he didn't know that this would be her request; he only learns it after having spared his life to have found the answer from the “sovereign” (182). Obviously the new bride wants to trick the knight into marrying her. Moreover, the new bride is proud of the delicate agreement she makes with the knight. While married, the wife relates that the knight “walweth and he turns back and forth./His former wife was always in smylinge” (229-230). Despite her husband's misfortune, the new wife never regrets having managed to trick this man into marrying her.Similarly, the woman uses tricks to attract Jankin; telling Jankin that she dreamed that he killed her to make her believe "that he had enchanted her" (575). The Woman seems to be proud of this lie; she openly admits that “it was all false, I hadn’t really dreamed it” (582). In this way, the wife and new wife in the tale use tricks to attract men to them. These tips are just the beginning of another parallel between the stories. The wife and bride in the story not only use mystery and magic to play tricks on the men they desire; These tricks work as expected. The wives' tricks are clearly a way to obtain the "maistrie", the answer to the knight's quest and one of the major themes of "The Wife's Tale". For example, the wife's trick of making Jankin believe that he has enchanted her through the dream story seems to be one of the key events that led to their marriage. Likewise, when the new The Woman in the Tale uses the image of women dancing in the forest to entice the knight to come and talk to her, it works. The knight falls into the trap and goes into the forest, only to talk to the old woman, not the group of women he saw dancing. As previously stated, the trick that leads the knight to the new bride is only the beginning; the real trick comes with the deal. The new wife uses his saving response to cheat on him and marry him. Looking at the corresponding examples in the Wife's prologue and in her story, it becomes clear that the Wife advocates this use of trickery to gain power in a relationship. Tricks aren't the only way to mastery; both brides also use their age as the main factor in marriage. The wife is the oldest woman from his last two marriages. This detail is particularly noted when discussing his courtship with Jankin; the Woman mentions in her prologue that Jankin is half her age: "He was, I believe, twenty winter years old,/And I was forty years old, if I may say so;/But yet I still had a tooth foal” (600-602). The new wife in the story is also an older woman. The fact that she is "filthy, old and porous" is mentioned several times by the narrator, the Knight and the new bride herself. Her age becomes an obvious advantage when the new bride gives her speech to the Knight. The new wife does not hesitate to mention “you gentlemen of honor/seyn, that men deserve the favor of an old sage” (353-354); honor and respect for elders are undoubtedly a form of control over the actions of younger people. If not mastery itself, honor is complementary to mastery and therefore always constitutes an important element in this regard. Obviously, the wife uses these parallel examples to show that being an older woman can have its advantages; especially during this time, the wife believes that being an older woman can lead to the ever-important “buttrie” of marriage. For both the wife and the new wife, tricks and age are two factors that open the door to power in a relationship. However, the similarities do not stop at these two aspects of mastery acquisition; both wives eventually achieve their goal of sovereignty after some sort of dispute. For the wife and Jankin, it was a physical fight, with punches on both sides. The Woman concludes this scene by saying: “He gave me the brydel in myn hond” (813). Furthermore, the Wife notes that “After that day we never argued again” (822). In summary, the wife and Jankin fight, but from this argument, there is peace in the marriage and power in the hands of the wife. Likewise, a conflict arises between the..