"Yet you shall live if you can answer we what is the thing that women most desire?" (Chauser) This question has bewildered men through out the ages. With the young knights life on the line he is summoned by the queen to find out what women truly desire. The knight learns many valuable lessons in his search to find out what women wan. He learns how to treat people with respect, not to judge people and how man should always treat a women with equality.
A moral is "of or relating to character and human behavior, particularly as regards right and wrong; virtuous, especially in sexual conduct capable of distinguishing right from wrong; probable, although not certain, psychological, emotional." (Webster 426) Although there are many morals present in The Wife of Bath's Tale, the three most prevalent are how to treat people with respect, not to judge people and how to treat women with equality. The purpose of this tale is to give examples of how these morals should be used in everyday society. Chauser displays the misconduct of everyday citizens and dwells on the fact that their wrong doings are subject to punishment. .
A prime example of treating people with respect is when the queen agrees to give the knight a second chance if he can return the favor (Chauser, pg). She treats him with respect even though he raped a maiden which is a highly demeaning crime. Despite what he did, upon his return with his answer to the question she accepts his answer which shows her respect for him (Chauser, pg). The knight shows respect for the queen by going on a quest to find the true answer to the question she asked. He also shows that he can treat people equally by agreeing to marry the old woman despite the fact that she is hideous. The knight was still treated with respect after he raped a woman which shows that people make mistakes and should not lower their value as a human being. .
The ever-present moral of not judging people is revealed in the tale quite repeatedly.
