Here’s the translation I used:
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/murphy/canterbury/7wife.pdf
I agree that Eleanor had a generous heart and a gift for creating family out of a motley crew of individuals. For that, she deserves all the praise. And she doesn’t let us forget it! Here’s where 1st person narration becomes interesting and can be a little manipulative (fitting, as it’s one of the Wife of Bath’s characteristics).
In Eleanor’s version of events, the last gasp, dying words of several characters are those of praise for her. From Leticia, it’s “You have done so much, so much.… Thank you. Bless you, mistress. I thank God the day you found me.” From Lowdy, it’s "You are a good woman. The best.” As Alyson dies, “She gazed at me with a love so fierce and hot, it reduced my soul to ash.”
There are other bits of (non-death scene) dialogue as well, where characters tell Eleanor how good she is – Oriel, Megge, even Ordric. All true sentiments, I’m sure, but a more modest memoirist might have toned it down. It could be a form of vanity, but I think it’s insecurity.
From the very first page of the book, when she’s only a child, Eleanor is told that she’s no good (“Flame-haired women are hell-bound,” Father Roman says). And this continues through her life, peaking with the misogynistic garbage Jankin hurls at her. Eleanor has to repeatedly tell herself (and by extension, us) that she is agood person who is loved and who has made extraordinary sacrifices for others. Oh, she jokes often about heading for hell, but as a Medieval Catholic woman with a fondness for pilgrimages, she almost certainly believes in and is hoping for heaven.
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I wonder about those pilgrimages. They were really the only legitimate way for a single woman to travel. At one point she makes a comment that certainly implies she knows that all the stuff they sell as holy is probably fake given the quantities that get sold. And there’s the “What happens in Canterbury stays in Canterbury” aspect as well.
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It’s my understanding that pilgrimage tourism was a pretty big industry, with towns of any size displaying various relics and offering (probably fake) things for sale. “Exit through the gift shoppe!”
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Yes, and that goes right back to the source material. A lot of the pilgrims in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales aren’t really making the trip for deeply spiritual reasons.
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Here’s a comic that is similar to Eleanor’s philosophy.
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The prologue is very sketchy on details of the 1st 3 husbands Eleanor had (and indeed of much of her life). I found the prologue of the original tale way too long-winded and unpleasant. I liked this book even more after reading the dreadful prologue.
The answer can be found in the prologue: “Who Painted the Lion?” Obviously Eleanor decides the truth about her story. After all, she tells it. 
Finally finished the book and have time to comment! I found the beginning of the book hilarious, actually (in a bawdy way). Maybe that was the narration–I listened to the first half, and absolutely loved the narration. I laughed out loud a bunch of times. But as others have mentioned, once Eleanor married Jankin the book dragged for me, and got darker. None of the rest of it was funny at all.
I think from her first marriage Eleanor learned that she could be happy with a marriage of convenience, if it gave her financial security. Her error was in thinking other men would be as kind as Fulk. But she was only 18 when he died, and had very little experience in life. And until age made it unlikely, she deeply wanted a child. She says that’s one of the reasons she married Turbet, even though she had other offers (but probably offering less security, and none of them offering love). She should have taken her time, as others suggested to her. But she was impulsive.
As for why she stayed with men who were abusive: In addition to the limited options available in the Middle Ages, it was probably the same as for many women–shock that violence happened, and a hope against evidence that it could happen again. Because like Jankin they often say they’re sorry and won’t ever do it again.
My sister had an abusive first husband, and although he never got physically violent, it wasn’t until he got violent with her dogs that she left, despite having options. Women are embarassed that they chose someone like that, that they can’t fix it. That was Eleanor, too. I found those parts of the book very hard to read.
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Finally finished the book and have time to comment! I found the beginning of the book hilarious, actually (in a bawdy way). Maybe that was the narration–I listened to the first half, and absolutely loved the narration. I laughed out loud a bunch of times. But as others have mentioned, once Eleanor married Jankin the book dragged for me, and got darker. None of the rest of it was funny at all.
Same here. Loved the narration! I too laughed out loud during parts of the first half of the book. As you said: “hilarious actually (in a bawdy way)”. I have a strong feeling that the narrator brought the humor to life. I even wondered at the time if I’d find it as humorous if not listening.
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It seems like this book would be well-suited to listening rather than reading. I bet more of Eleanor’s humor and charm came through – those things can be more muted on paper.
I looked up the narrator, Fran Burgoyne. If you scroll down to her voicereels, you can hear her voice. Also, something about that face…Put her in the right clothes and she could be the Wife of Bath.
She certainly could be the Wife of Bath! While I don’t think I laughed at loud, I did find Eleanor’s voice amusing. Even when bad things were happening she was often able to find the lighter side.
I thought that this was a pretty weird subtitle for a book that is based on a fictional account. But if we assume that Chaucer really did know someone like The Wife of Bath I suppose it makes sense. In her author’s note she apologizes for making Eleanor have sex at 12 and any number of other things that don’t sit right with our modern sensibilities, but she has to put them in to keep the story “mostly true”.
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I guess it’s “mostly” true if Chaucer’s tales were “mostly” true. Otherwise, it may be a composite of what life and society were like over that time period, like other historical fiction.
I took the title somewhat tongue-in-cheek: Eleanor’s “story” with Eleanor’s title. It goes back to “who painted the lion?”
In other words, the title and subtitle belong to Eleanor, not Karen Brooks.
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I think it was true that Geoffrey was “hardly a man” to her. Maybe it’s because she knew him as a child – sort of an offshoot of the Westermarck effect. As a result, I think she had a deeper relationship with him than she had with any other man in her life. Even Fulk, her “best” husband, was caught up in some of Eleanor’s sexual manipulation, which was never part of her relationship with Geoffrey.
I felt bad when Eleanor became angry and burned all Geoffrey’s letters, unread. Gah, I hate plot points that revolve around burnt unread letters! 
Geoffrey calling Eleanor “the wife of my soul” was very sweet, but maybe a little stronger than their relationship merited. He spent most years away from her, dealing with his own messes.
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Hmmm, never heard of this effect before but it does make sense. Yes, I think Eleanor had a different kind of relationship with Chaucer and he with her because there was no sexual attraction mentioned. They could be buddies and didn’t have to worry about strictly following male/female roles.
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“You . . . have always been family to me. . . . You’re the wife of my soul”. I think that part made me a little teary. (Then again, I’ve been known to do same at Hallmark commercials.)
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I’ve read through the comments now and appreciate the insights. I echo those who felt frustration with Eleanor’s character and decision making … at the same time realizing what constraints she was under in 14th-century England. I came to the book fresh, not having read Chaucer previously.
I started out on “Yay, Team Eleanor!,” applauding her grit and ingenuity in making the best of the first two marriages. I liked her sass and spirit. At that point I needed to make a suggestion for a family book group I belong to, and I talked up this one as “fun” and bawdy (not thinking of the meaning behind “bawd” at that point).
By Marriage #3 I was sliding away from the Eleanor fan club, mentally urging her not to be in such a dang hurry, wishing she would heed someone’s advice. Mid-Marriage #4 I had such anxiety that I had to take a break from the book. Picked it back up and could barely read in quick bursts through the Jankin chapters. (I’m a finisher; it’s a rare book I start and put down, but I nearly did. I think I hoped things would get better?)
Prostitution – even to the extent it was voluntary – was not the “better” I was hoping for. I tried to invent alternate endings where that “choice” wasn’t forced upon her … could only see that the change had to be systemic, societal, and that our heroine no longer had the power to save herself or anyone.
I ended up withdrawing my suggestion that the family group read this – knowing my sisters-in-law would have even more anxiety than I did. (They are not wusses by any means, but I know them!) And while I’m not sorry I read this book, once was enough.
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@jollymama, you perfectly described my mental process in reading the book.
I think the intense violence of the Jankin marriage and the horrible aftermath involving Lowdy really shifted the tone of the book. It lost the sassy, gutsy (and often amusing) feel and went dark – as if it were two types of novels patched together. The first 3/4 of the book was a better match for the tone of the original Chaucer tale, too.
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