The Wife uses these biblical examples not only to justify her own marriages, but also to state that without such marriages there would be no procreation to produce more virgins. .
The Prologue is more than the Wife's autobiography about her life, her husbands, and why she married them; she would have been viewed as a horrible woman by the medieval Church, deceitful in her actions and reasons for marriage. However, to prove that she does not care what the Church says and that she is proud of her many marriages, she states; "Blessed be God that I have wedded five welcome the sixte whan that evere he shal!- (lines 44 and 51). This is also another way in which she tells the men that she is available and she is marriage material. .
Chaucer's narrative of the Wife of Bath states that she is such a good weaver and is so successful that her fame has spread to Europe and back; however, in her Prologue, the Wife describes herself as one who has risen financially by marrying old men and outliving them. The Wife of Bath's own description of herself is the one she seems to prefer, perhaps because it shows her as a strong woman who had complete supremacy over her husbands, rather than as a hardworking seamstress. Chaucer also portrays her as domineering, sensual, and as an expert in love-related matters; the Wife echoes these characteristics of herself in her Prologue. .
The realism of the Wife of Bath's life with five different husbands and the cruelty of some and the kindness of the others are mirrored in the witty tale she tells. She begins by showing how, even under the rule of King Arthur and his chivalrous knights, women are at the mercy of men; this is demonstrated in the rape of the young maiden by the knight. Immediately, though, the Wife begins to weave in her own philosophy by showing that Arthur's queen can convince him to leave the knight's life in her hands. Further, the task given the knight by the queen (to find out "what thing it is that women most desire-) is noteworthy because in medieval times, very little attention was paid to what women wanted, even if they were royalty or wealthy.
