“The Wife of Bath's Tale” in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is the story of a widow who made a pilgrimage to the city of Canterbury with a series of dynamic characters whose diverse backgrounds it allowed them to share their stories with each other to make the long journey more interesting. The widow named Alisoun in the story "The Wife of Bath" tells the story of her experiences with her five past husbands and the story of a knight and a witch. He truly believed that for a woman to have a happy life she would need to gain dominance over a man; however it could be assumed that this was programmed into her by her influential mother and her own religious doctrines. Consequently, Alisoun argued that the woman must control everything to have a happy marriage; however, her life experience and the story she has shared should tell her otherwise. The widow Alisoun was a seamstress by trade as well as an emancipated older woman of her time in thought and action; for this reason he traveled unescorted with a caravan of many different individuals to the city of Canterbury. Hallissy argues: “The Wife of Bath's dress is gaudy for a woman over forty, much less a widow. Only her red stockings identify her as improper. Her hat, the size of a shield, her five headdresses, the cloak on her hips and the spurs on her feet indicate not only that she is ready for the journey but also that she is ready for a new love. Extroverted in her manner, assertive in speaking, she challenges authority only with her appearance” (103). Each person on the pilgrimage shared a story with others to make the journey more enjoyable. The person who told the most interesting story would receive a free dinner at the end of their journey, with...... middle of paper ......who would have to change their appearance to win the affection of their husbands . Patterson says: She loves men but hates them. She fights for marriage but sees it as a battlefield. She seems to like her fourth husband, but is ready for a fifth even before the fourth dies. She loves her fifth husband very much, but is more mistreated by him than by anyone else. For her, procreation is one of the purposes of marriage, but it seems that in five marriages she has had no children. She thinks women should have sovereignty but doesn't seem to want it herself, or at least not for a long time” (100) All in all, the theory put forward by the widow regarding dominion over men would be what women most want to live a fulfilled marriage is flawed because it conflicts with the reality of his experiences, as well as the story he told about the knight and the witch.