Alisoun Takes Exception: Medieval Legal Pleading and the Wife of Bath

If, as Marlowe wrote in Doctor Faustus, Helen of Troy bore the "face that launched a thousand ships," then surely the Wife of Bath's gap-toothed countenance is the mug that has launched a thousand critics.¹ Commentators have looked at various aspects of Alisoun's character, from her antecedents to her exegetical skills, her clothing, and her physical appearance and beyond.² The output of research on Alisoun's prologue, tale, and personal description is as relentless today as ever, as scholars continue to attempt to understand Chaucer's intentions regarding this character and her presentation.

The Wife's link to medieval law is one topic that has yet to exhaust its potential for fresh insight on this literary creation. Scholarship to date has generally focused on the correlation between the Wife's life experiences and various medieval legal codes. C. S. Margulies first explained the legal significance of the dower presented at Alisoun's church-door wedding ceremonies, arguing that this endowment rather than her business acumen is the source of her wealth.³ Thomas Reisner adds that the Wife bargained for her dower amounts prior to the marriages.⁴ D. W. Robertson Jr. cites certain terminology as indicative of Alisoun's unfree personal status, contending that it would be awkward for her to secure property by legal means if she were a free woman.⁵ Mary Carruthers investigates the nature and legal standing of Alisoun's assets.⁶ John Mahoney and Donald Howard both demonstrate that Alisoun's defense of successive marriages does not violate canon law, although Howard asserts that the Wife exhibits defensiveness about her failure to preserve her virginity or remain a widow.⁷ Finally, Robert Blanch and Corrine Saunders have examined legal aspects of Alisoun's tale, especially with respect to the issue of rape.⁸ Blanch contends that Alisoun manipulates legal conventions in her tale, but he does not scrutinize her prologue for similar activities.

Virtually no essays that link the Wife to medieval law consider whether legal pleading practices influence the composition of Alisoun's debate with clerical authorities in her prologue. The notable exception is Susanne Sara Thomas, who argues that Alisoun delivers a mock legal case shaped by the deceptive pleading technique of "colour."⁹ For Thomas, Alisoun chooses which "facts" to include in her case, thus obfuscating the reality of the situation. Thomas concludes that Chaucer uses Alisoun to critique contemporary legal practices.

The personal circumstances created for the character, as well as Chaucer's demonstrated belief that the fundamental capacity of law was to provide justice, invite further deliberation on the possible influence of oral pleading techniques upon Alisoun's words. Though court appearances are never explicitly mentioned, Alisoun's business ventures and numerous dowers identify her with legal activities and evoke the prospect that she has witnessed the pleading procedure. She demonstrably refers to courtroom procedures and terminology in her tale, raising the question of whether more references are apparent in her prologue. Her association with the legal system would not be extraordinary since Chaucer advocates the efficacy of law in other parts of the Canterbury Tales. The Manciple's portrait idealizes the power for social good held by the lawyers, suggesting that the Manciple undermines his employers' efforts to realize this potential.¹⁰ The Tale of Melibee highlights the idea that a legal system based upon reason and natural law provides true justice.¹¹

This essay proposes that the Wife of Bath employs the courtroom pleading techniques of excepcion and confession and avoidance to challenge the misogynist teachings of clerical authority. Alisoun's background provides access to this masculine language system, which gives her voice an authority not otherwise possible. Initially, she objects to inaccuracies in her opponent's presentation. As Warren Smith has persuasively argued, Alisoun repeatedly defends the "plain sense" of the Bible.¹² Her objections contest clerical authority by questioning whether their scriptural glosses truly represent God's will for his people. Later, when her personal behavior appears to confirm clerical stereotypes of women, she acknowledges her actions but introduces new...