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The Man of Law, a lawyer, holds the extremely high rank of Sergeant of Law. He is also a judge in the court of assizes, which handled civil procedures, appointed by royal decree. He is a bit of an enigmatic figure, with the Narrator providing a slightly ambivalent description. The Narrator states that the Man of Law carries himself with dignity and appears to be very learned. Instead of allowing this observation to stand as fact, the Narrator appends, “He semed swich, his wordes weren so wise,” meaning that the Man of Law’s wise way of speaking may merely give the impression of dignity. The Narrator casts further doubt on the authenticity of the Man of Law’s diligence by suggesting that he looks busier than he actually is. The Man of Law is a wealthy landowner, and the Narrator’s description of him being a “great purchaser” may imply that he buys a lot of land without a lot of thought. That, combined with his fine silk clothing, makes the Man of Law seem materialistic. Surprisingly, none of these negative traits appear to come through in the Man of Law’s Tale.
There’s scholarly disagreement as to how much the Man of Law’s Tale reflects on the Man of Law’s character. Taking his story at face value, he is a well-read individual focused on moral and spiritual matters as well as legal ones. In a rather meta move, the Man of Law praises the real-life poet Chaucer for telling stories of virtuous women, listing the heroines of his poem The Legend of Good Women, specifically in contrast to other poets who tell histories of heroines of immoral character. This latter note appears to be a jab at Chaucer’s contemporary and friend, John Gower, whose poem Confessio Amantis includes the story of Constance that provides a model for the Man of Law’s Tale. The story itself is a Christian romance, drawing its drama and power from the testing of Custance’s Christian virtues, contrasting her virtuous patience and passivity with the Orientalist depiction of a conniving Muslim mother-in-law. If the Man of Law means to use his Tale to comment on what he believes women should be like, then the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale may be a direct rebuttal to the Man of Law. However, we cannot be sure, given the fragmented nature of the manuscript.
