She's a Man Eater

The Wife of Bath (Alisoun) strikes me as a very headstrong independent woman. She knows what she wants and doesn't let anyone or anything get in her way. 

During this time period, I feel that Alisoun acts in direct contrast to what is normally expected from a woman. For one, she feels that women need to be in control in their relationship with their husbands. She talks about how she basically had her husbands wrapped around her finger to get what she wanted out of them. She has a deeply rooted need for this control which I'm not entirely sure from where it stems from but it could have something to do with her mom. She mentions in line 576 that she convinced Jankin that he had enchanted her saying that her mom had taught her that trick. Maybe her mom had the same mindset because her mom taught it to her or perhaps something happened to cause her to be this way. Will we ever find out? I don't know but it is interesting to think about. I'm also a bit confused on why Alisoun had to fake that she was enchanted by Jankin but mentioned that he was the only one that she actually married for love. If she actually loved him, shouldn't she have been head over heels for him? 

She also has a very strong sexual appetite which I feel was frowned upon for women during this time. There has a been a lot of mention about Christianity in CT and Alisoun seems to use it to fit her own personal agenda of what she thinks is right (not to say that others haven't done the same thing). Alisoun doesn't seem share the same interpretation that others had during her time on the topic of sexuality. While it's clear that she believes in God, she questions where others got the idea that they were commanded to be virgins as it doesn't really mesh with the idea of marriage. She also uses the Biblical tales of Abraham and Jacob to defend her choice in having multiple husbands, basically saying if they could have a bunch of wives, why can't I have a bunch of husbands. Again, I think this goes back to Alisoun being a free spirited person. Not in the "make love, not war" sense but more in the sense of "take what I want when I want it."

Visual representation of Allison sizing up her next prey- I mean husband

I was not completely surprised at the fight she had with Jankin that happened towards the end of the prologue simply due to Alisoun's personality. I believe the book that Jankin would read came off to Alisoun as a personal attack because all it did was blame women for everything bad that happened to their husbands which directly contradicts everything she stood for in that women were to basically be worshipped and rule over their husbands.