The Wife of Bath's Tale - Chaucer
This tale starts off with a knight raping a young woman. He is brought before King Arthur and the court, who are disgusted by his action and immediately wish death upon him. Thankfully for the knight, the Queen and her ladies stop him and suggest to have the knight set up to a challenge. The challenge for this knight is to go find out what women want most in the world within the next year. If he is correct, he is set free and will be able to live happily. If he is wrong, he will die.
He is on a quest for answers but comes to an even bigger challenge. All the women he has spoke to has given him different answers, making it hard for him to get one answer to bring back to the court. Fortunately, he comes along an old woman and asks for her help in his challenge. He promises her a reward if she is able to successfully help him. This old woman requests that he pledge himself to her as a reward. The woman tells the knight that all woman want is to be in charge of their husbands and lovers. When they presented this to the court, the old woman had the correct answer and the knight successfully fulfilled his challenge. Now, the old woman publically says to the knight that he must marry her because she saved his life. The knight begs the women to come up with another request, but at this point he has no choice but to marry this old woman. They got married and it led the knight to be absolutely miserable and unhappy about marrying her. The woman realizes this and presents him with a choice.
“Choose,” she said, “one of these two things: to have me foul and old until I die, and to you a true, humble wife, never in all my days displeasing you; or else to have me young and beautiful, and take your chance on how many visits there will be to your house--or perhaps to some other place--which will be for my sake. Now choose yourself which one you will have.”
The knight is contemplating what he thinks is best to do and replies with:
"My lady and love, and my dear wife, I put myself into your wise governance. Please choose which may be the greatest pleasure and greatest honor to you and me also; I care not which of the two, for it is sufficient to me to please you."
"Then I have the mastery over you," she said, "since I may choose and govern as I wish."
"Yes, surely, wife," he said, "I believe that is for the best."
He let her choose, as he learned that women want to control what their husbands do. Thankfully, the old woman becomes young and beautiful while also staying loyal and humble.