His last wish is to see that Palamon can marry Emely. Palamon and Emely marry, and they live a happy life.
One of the female storytellers is the Wife of Bath. The Wife has a lot of experiences under her belt. She has traveled all over the world on pilgrimages. Not only has she seen many lands, she has lived with five husbands. Although she is argumentative and enjoys talking, the Wife is intelligent. Through her experiences with her husbands, she has learned how to provide for herself in a world where women had little independence or power. The chief manner in which she has gained control over her husbands has been in her control over their use of her body. The Wife uses her body as a bargaining tool, withholding sexual pleasure until her husbands give her what she demands. In her story there is a knight who assaulted a young woman. He was condemned to death, but the Queen begged Arthur to spare his life. The Queen was given authority over the life or death of the knight, and she gave him a riddle. She asked him to find the thing that woman most desire, and she gave him a year to search for the answer, in any way he liked. He searched in vain, until he came upon an old and ugly woman. He asked her the question, and she promised to give him an answer, providing that he would marry her if she gave him the answer. He agrees, and he returns to the Court to explain the answer in front of the Queen and lots of royal people. The answer he gives is that women desire to have mastery over their husbands. Then, the old woman speaks, and tells the Queen about her arrangement with the knight, who tries to back out of it, but he has to marry the old woman. .
His wife, knowing that he is depressed, makes him an offer. She asks him to choose her young and sexually indiscriminate, or old and faithful. The knight tells her that she should decide which way she thinks is best. The wife, having gotten mastery over her husband, praises him for his wise choice, and vows to give him both beauty and loyalty.
