Part VI: Through her ordeal, Griselda helps prepare the beautiful young girl, whom she does not recognize as her daughter, for the wedding. But Walter can stand his own cruelty no longer. He confesses to Griselda that the beautiful girl and the handsome young boy are their children and they have been given loving care in Bologna. He confesses that the cruel tests had been perfectly met by Griselda and that he could find no more patient and steadfast woman. They live the rest of their lives in bliss, and when Walter dies, his son succeeds to the throne.
In an envoy to The Clerk’s Tale, Chaucer warns all husbands not to test the patience of their wives in the hope of finding another patient Griselda “for in certein, ye shal faille.” Chaucer then warns all wives not to allow humility to nail shut their tongues for fear of finding themselves, like Chichevache,. engulfed or swallowed up. Chaucer then advises wives to be like Echo, who never fled and always returned tit for tat.
