Abstract
ABSTRACTThis paper proposes a new reading for a proverb in Chaucer's Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale (ll. 89–90). The dangers in assembling “fyr and tow” have long been understood simply as a figurative warning against sexual temptation, following a common precedent of Scripture and vernacular proverb. I argue here that the Wife's usage invites a contemporary, sensational reading of fire and tow as well: a reference to the fatal accident of the bal des ardents at the French royal court in 1393, which very nearly took the life of Charles VI. Such a reading allows for a more complete critical understanding of the Wife of Bath's sources and her social identity.
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