Wife of Bath

I love the description of the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath, is portrayed as a smart woman to me. She looks at life from the perspective of her own experiences, which may indicate that she is wise? She seems to live her life without caring about anyone's opinions.In the text it says "She was a worthy womnan al hir love:/Housbondes at chirche dore she hadde fyve"(459/460). I understand that she has been married five times and that perhaps she has learned a lot from all of her marriages. She seems like a tart, having been married a lot of times. At the same time she is worthy of marrying. Maybe the Wife of Bath is a noble woman. But why would this sort of person be traveling on this pilgrimage. I think Chaucer wants the characters to represent all different types of people. People may not like this character because the readers may feel like she is a arrogant and pompous woman seeking something that does not have anything to do with the pilgrimage.