In the Prologue of the Canterbury Tales, why is the Wife of Bath on the pilgrimage?

The Wife
of Bath goes on pilgrimages to prove that she can. She's very much a proto-feminist at a time
when women are expected to be demure, submissive, and chaste. For most people, going on a
pilgrimage is an expression of their religious identity. But for the Wife of Bath, it's
differentit's a social ritual, an opportunity to be seen and admired. She's very much a woman of
the world, who has married several times and is independently wealthy and completely comfortable
in her own skin. She owes absolutely nothing to anyone and so has the time and the leisure to be
able to lead her own life. At a time when opportunities for travel were necessarily limited,
with journeys long and hard, going on a pilgrimage was a rare chance to explore another part of
the country.

Nowadays, members of the international jet set like to
congregate at fancy spas or fashionable ski resorts. In late 14th-century England,...