The Wife of Bath's tale is part of the Canterbury Tales, contained in the part about marriage, where people offers their philosophies and experiences on love and marriage.
On the first reference (lines 39-56) the wife makes a direct statement on friars. She describes the friars' activities as she has seen them work, but then she states they are a danger to women as they won't do more than take your virtue.
The second reference (lines 101-126) is to women's desire, she states that some say women want the freedom to do as they please, without being told otherwise, but to be thought as good and wise. First, she says men ought to be good and caring to women and that some women enjoy being called discreet and secret, but she negates this continuing her story recalling the story of Midas.
Finally, the last reference (lines 433-440) is to marriage, she is an experienced woman who has been married five times. In the final lines, she asks God for young husbands to please women and short lives for the ones who won't be governed by their wives.
In the whole tale, the woman is presented as a strong, independent, intelligent and determined person who works to get her own benefits from her husbands. She has very open concepts on different matters and her image is very ahead of her time.
