Final answer:
The Wife of Bath from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is depicted through her comments and tone as a confident, educated, and forthright character who challenges conventional norms. Her use of formal diction and mythical references adds playfulness and subversion to her portrayals.
Step-by-step explanation:
In lines 29–62, the Wife of Bath's personality is conveyed through her comments and tone as being bold, independent, and somewhat controversial. She speaks frankly about her experiences and uses these to assert her views on marriage and women's autonomy. This persona contrasts the more conventional or meek female characters of the time, presenting her as confident and forthright.
The Wife of Bath's use of formal diction does suggest she is educated, but it also serves to subvert expectations by pairing this education with unconventional opinions, especially about gender roles and sexuality. When she references mythical figures, it often has a playful undertone but can also indicate her challenging traditional narratives, asserting her own experience over accepted wisdom or moral lessons. Her comments about the holy friar and the use of a knight character are more indicative of her critical view of the chivalric and religious men who fail to live up to their own standards, rather than an assertion of her own devoutness or propriety.