to show her piety and to affirm that she is one of the leading citizens and thus to be admired. She has had five husbands and other lovers. She is described as a worthy woman and as having been so all her life. She has also had five husbands and has been with other men as well. She is representative of Chaucer's women in that Chaucer creates women who are rounded and real, with different facets to their personalities. In the tales there are numerous women who also show different facets of their personalities and the comprehensive view Chaucer takes of the women of his time. This view is colored by the attitude taken toward love. In the tradition of courtly love that would soon develop, love is a dedication that transcends everything else in life. The lover's dedication to his beloved is strong and real even if she knows nothing about it. Such a love requires that the lover be dedicated to his love. It generates his poetry. There is something ethereal about this kind of love, much as the lover sees his beloved as an ethereal creature liv
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