The Wife of Bath

Love

Trickery 

Knowledge

Quest

Revenge 

"What is the thing women most desire? Beware the axe and say as I require."

As the knight is charged with rape and he is required to answer the queen's one question, he runs into the problem of his ability to answer. This brings about the theme of knowledge prevalent in the story. As the knight travels around, none of the people he asks can give him the same knowledge or ideas, until he runs into the old woman. In his quest for knowledge, he is introduced to another theme, one of trickery, when the old woman tricks him into marrying her as she knows that he in honorable and wouldn't refuse. 

"My lady and my love, my dearest wife, I leave the matter to your wise decision."

The knight demonstrates the knowledge that he has learned when he allows his wife to make the decision herself, giving her the power and getting the best of both worlds for himself. In a way, he also gets revenge for the trickery that the woman pulled on him at the beginning of the story, as it seems that she did not notice that he followed her own advice. In the end, by allowing the wife to make the decision, he not only received a beautiful wife, but a trustworthy and loving one as well. 

The theme of variety of opinion when regarding knowledge is something that remains to be prevalent in the world today. Depending on opinion, the advice or information that you could receive is vastly different. With so many different ways of thinking, it is often impossible to find the "correct" answer unless it is backed by science or another tangible means of proving something's existence. Using the same example as The Wife of Bath, the question of what women want would still have a variety of answers depending on who you asked. 

The idea of a quest for knowledge is something that can still be seen today in the form of, for example, religious pilgrimages. During pilgrimages from one place to a far-away church, people will walk long distances for the purpose of feeling more knowledgeable or feeling closer to God. The reliquaries, which contain dead parts of Saints, are something that everyone travels to see. This can be compared to the knight's quest to find the information that he desired, although it was not of religious roots.

Federigo's Falcon

Greed 

Love

Illogicality 

Sacrifice  

Self--betterment 

"My lady, since there is no one else, this good woman here, the wife of this workman, will keep you company while I go set the table." 

   

 This quote depicts how Federigo lost everything he had when he went on his blind pursuit of love for Monna. Federigo believed that if he poured everything into his love for her, she would reciprocate. But that was not the case, and Federigo ended up living a lonely life on a farm where his only true company was his falcon. Even though Federigo ends up marrying Monna, the love that he has for her is not truly returned, but rather acknowledged. Monna doesn't truly love him. She was just making the best out of a bad situation. 

"My lady, ever since it pleased God for me to place my love in you, I have felt that fortune has been hostile to me in many things...Fortune worked to make it impossible for me to give it to you; and why this is so I shall tell you briefly." 

When read with a solid understanding of the plot, this quote truly exemplifies the illogical fallacies that Federigo followed throughout his life. He tried to make himself a better person in the eyes of Monna, and in the process of doing so, lost who he truly was. He ends up killing his one true companion for a person who never even gave him a second glance. Bouncing off of the themes of greed and illogicality, Federigo is shown to be rather foolish with how he pursues things in his life. 

   The theme of unconditional love found in Federico's Falcon relates eerily well to the real world. There are millions of examples of people who bring themselves harm or discomfort in order to try and "win over" the person that they love. They feel as if they need to be something that they aren't not, and this causes misunderstandings between people. I find this desire to impress is something that everyone goes through, including myself. 

The idea of unreciprocated love is prominent in both Federigo's Falcon and the real world. No matter how hard you love someone, they may just simply never reciprocate that love. They may settle for you, like Monna did for Federico, but not actually love in the same way. This ties back in to doing foolish things in order to impress others. If an individual feels that the person they love does not feel the same way, they will go off and try to change their mind, turning into someone else in the process.