In the Canterbury Tales, many characters are not what they seem. Chaucer provides in-depth descriptions in the general prologue of all the characters and how they live their lives, from the knight, to the Wife of Bath, to the guest. These people all have backstories and distinct personality traits that set them apart from the other characters. The Wife of Bath is a worldly woman and Chaucer describes her as “An estimable woman: she had five husbands, to say nothing of other companionship in her youth” (Chaucer 9). The Wife of Bath is a character who knows what she wants and exactly how to get it. The Wife of Bath's tale matches her personality and the Wife of Bath and the old woman in the tale share similar traits. In the general prologue, Chaucer explains the characteristics of the Wife of Bath. He says, “He knew how to laugh and joke in company, and all the remedies of love, for his skill was great in that old game” (Chaucer 10). This particular description of the Wife of Bath shows that she knows, or thinks she knows, a lot about love. Although Chaucer uses "knew" in the quote, this does not mean that the Wife of Bath is an expert on love. Her marriages were sham and she loved only her fifth husband, who beat her. She is by no means an expert in love, more of an enthusiast. She likes the idea of ​​being in love and being able to control the men she marries. She can't control all the men she marries, but she tries with all her heart. It was easy to have power over the first three, but the last two were a little more challenging. In the prologue to the Wife of Bath's tale, the Wife of Bath speaks to the group and says, "Just as worms destroy a tree, you say, so a wife destroys her husbands, and any man attached to a wife knows... middle of the paper... it's the day and age when both of these women would be great leaders because they know what they want and how to get it. They could be leaders of companies or even presidents. In their time, they would have to take orders from men and do what they were told without objection. These two women didn't think that was the way women should behave and they did everything they could do otherwise. They did what they could to take power away from men and be in head and head.Chaucer knew how to bring these women to life and was smart to make them wear pants, because not many people saw it that way back then.These women are the embodiment of "strong, independent women" and could so that any man can do what he wants in the twinkling of an eye. Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Trans. R. M. Lumiansky. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1948. Print.