In The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath offers an in-depth look at her life and understanding of the world as she perceives it. During her prologue, we learn that what she calls experience comes from her first three marriages, but during the last two there is a shift in power. The Wife of Bath demonstrates her understanding and power during her first three marriages both physically and emotionally and the contrast of her lack of control in the last two, thus revealing the true meaning behind what she believes the experience is during these marriages . The Wife of Bath's authority can be seen as realistic when compared to the chain of being due to the emotional control she has over her previous husbands and simply having been married five times; her experience can be seen as nominalistic because she uses her sexuality to full advantage with her first three husbands and places emphasis on the physical satisfaction gained from her relationships, but realizes that her sexual control during the last two leads to emotional vulnerability. Throughout her narrative, she reveals her desire to love and be loved in return, but is unable to achieve this due to the imbalance between her authority and experience. The General Prologue is an important key to understanding the clear distinction between the Wife of Bath's appearance and reality. She gives a detailed description of her appearance and the places she traveled, stating that she has been to Rome and visited Jerusalem three times. She makes a pilgrimage to these important religious cities, demonstrating her vast knowledge of religion, but travels with the intention of finding a sixth husband. Her described physical appearance paints the picture of a very sensual woman. S...... middle of paper ......een the unjustified tyranny of the wives of satire and the meritorious supremacy of the romantic heroines. There is clearly no Dorigen or Criseyde in his story. The hag is aggressive, manipulative and sexually demanding in the best satirical vein, but her noble and magical attributes - as fairy queen, as the goal of a life-long quest, as a moral guide and finally as the chivalric hero's love object --obscure her anti-feminist ties and work to validate her active exercise of power. (Crane, 20-27) The Wife of Bath clearly demonstrates the distinction between the life she lives and the life she desires to live. She has not been able to receive the love she desired through her past marriages and continues to search for it. Through the story, she makes her feminist ideas known by attributing a role of authority to women but also shows the imbalance between her authority and her experience..