A great misconception of society is that men are in control of the household, and women are content in their submissive roles. The simple fact is that women desire a mastery over their husbands in marriage and posses several methods of attaining it, and will do so at all costs. This is clearly demonstrated numerous times in "The Wife of Bath," a tale from the novel The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer. One way that women seek to gain mastery over their husbands is through the manipulation of emotions. As despicable as this may seem in and of itself, the tale also illustrates the use of women's sexual appeal to impose their will upon their partners thus once again granting them the control. However, perhaps the most grotesque method by which they seek control is through their wicked mind games and cunning bouts of deception. All of these devices are still nothing but a means to an end; that end being dominance over their partners.
             One particularly intrinsic behavior of a woman in her pursuit of control over her husband is the indiscriminant manipulation of emotions in an attempt to make the man feel sorry for the woman or feel that he is in the wrong. A monumental example of this is when the wife of Bath tells of quarrel between her and her fifth husband: "But yet again I hit him on the cheek, and said 'Thief, this much I am avenged; now I shall die, I can speak no longer.' But at last, after much care and woe, we fell into accord between ourselves. He gave the bridle completely into my hand to have control of house and land. And also of his tongue and hand; and I made him burn his book right then."(219). She had hit him well nigh knowing that he would respond with anger, and in so doing, he fell into her trap. She took his blow and feigned grievous injury so as to put him in the position of being the malicious, wrongful one. The husband then conceded not only control of land and prop...