King Arthur's Punishment In 'The Wife Of Bath'

In the tale “The Wife of Bath,” the Knight’s punishment fit his crime nicely. The knight’s crime was that he raped a maiden, for no other reason than to sate his sexual desires. While the law of that time called for his head, instead of executing him, King Arthur let the Queen decide what would become of him. King Arthur’s decision to let the Queen take over the Knight’s punishment makes sense because it is an issue that a woman would feel more strongly about than a man. However, the Queen takes an unfortunate path with the Knight’s punishment, that is not nearly severe enough at first. Instead of beheading him, like the law stated, the Queen gave him a quest of sorts. She gave him a year to find out what women most desire. If he failed to provide an answer when his time was up, he would be executed. However, if he succeeded his life would be spared. As the knowledge of the possibility of death would make him try desperately to find an answer, the psychological conflict the Knight
He did not treat her kindly, so she gave him two choices. The Knight then decided to follow the lesson he learned from her, of what women most desire and gave her sovereignty over him. After the Knight gives her sovereignty over him, the Old Lady becomes young and beautiful. She also promises to be faithful to him or that she’ll die in a mad despair. The Knight is finally content, accepting his wife fully now that she was pretty. They of course lived happily ever after as his wife was in charge. This shows that the Knight has learned a lesson, and redeemed himself. He had forced himself upon a girl showing he did not care at all about a lady's desires but has now given in completely to them. This is why the punishment given to the Knight fit his crime because it showed he learned from it. He will not make the same mistake again, as he has learned his lesson, and is now under his wife’s