In The Wife of Bath's Tale, by Chaucer, we see a story told by a bitter woman who has, apparently, lost enough hope in men, that she must seek to hopes and dreams to fantasize the perfect couple. The couple she describes has a love that does not depend on anything superficial, which seems to be the basis for repression and the other unwanted characteristics of marriage the Wife describes in her Prologue. Her ideal mentality can be linked to a basic form of Hindu teachings as seen in the
Bhagavad-Gita:
1185 "Whoso that halt hym payd of his poverte,
"Whoever considers himself satisfied with his poverty,
1186 I holde hym riche, al hadde he nat a sherte."
I consider him rich, although he had not a shirt."
The question is, ultimately, the following: Is the tale told by the Wife of Bath fantasy or hope?
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