The Canterbury Tales recounts the stories told by pilgrims to one another as they make their way from London to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury. This volume contains the Wife of Bath’s Tale - a story which despite its bawdy reputation, tells a profoundly tragic tale of how women were treated in thirteenth century England. Indeed, many consider that Alison speaks with a voice that is still shockingly relevant to the lives of some modern-day women. This edition is particularly suited for High School and College/ University students. Here, the odd-numbered pages contain Chaucer’s original text written in Middle English. Alongside, there is plenty of room in the wide outer margins for students to make translation notes of The Wife of Bath’s Tale, or perhaps, to define unfamiliar key words. The even-numbered pages contain a new translation into modern English which differs slightly from those found elsewhere. Here, the key difference is that each line is translated separately, and thereby avoids the problem seen in some translations that words are borrowed from adjacent lines to help maintain Chaucer’s rhyming structure. Accordingly, this translation adheres very closely to Chaucer’s own words; although, in doing so, it may occasionally become slightly more descriptive than is usual in other translations, and that there are some sections where Chaucer’s original couplets no longer rhyme. Nevertheless, this ‘word for word’ approach has been employed with the express purpose of assisting those readers who new to Chaucer’s middle English. In some circumstances, a direct translation into modern English may not always improve a reader’s understanding of the storyline. In these cases, a word or phrase will have been added to the original text - but any such additions are always clearly marked in square brackets [ ].Readers will be pleased that the present translation of the Wife of Bath’s Tale has substituted any offensive references to female genitalia with much more acceptable descriptions. This volume contains the complete and unabridged text (with line numbers), an accurate translation and a personal study notebook - which means it offers excellent value for money.
