The question of whether the narrator, in Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath is reliable or not, can be called due to the narrator and the Wife herself, being one and the same voice. The Wife of Bath and the prologue are amongst Chaucer’s most famous tales: the prologue tells the tale of ‘Alyson’ (or ‘Alys’) who claims to be an expert on marriage, having been married five times: “For, masters since I was twelve years of age … Oh husbands at church door have I had five.” (Chaucer) The ‘bragging’ tone of the narrator instantly calls into question her legitimacy to such claims and creates the idea that she may be attempting to impress the reader, instead of giving an honest account. Her referral to herself as being “Alyson” and “Alys” (Chaucer) demonstrates an inconsistency which calls into question her ability to recount something completely.
An unreliable narrator is defined as being one whose trustworthiness has been called into question, usually through discrepancies in their words. In the case of The Wife of Bath, the Wife attempts to assert her own voice over proceedings, although the tale is more specifically about a Knight who attacks her and his quest that forms part of his punishment. Her prologue is one of the longer openings to the various tales and in the text: the Friar even proclaims, “This is a long preamble to a tale!” (Chaucer) The wordiness of her speech suggests that she is giving the reader too much information in an attempt to conceal the true story.
References
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Wife of Bath. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1996.
