The Wife of Bath's Tale

So I have read the Wife of Bath's Tale, and I thought that this awkward. One thing I want to know is why would a knight come out of his character to rape a poor and innocent woman? That's just sick!! There were laws indeed and he did a sick crime to break them that could've put him to death, but instead the queen decided on babying him and had set up a punishment that would work. I don't see why she would go through the trouble when she could just say, "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!" So she told him that he has a year and a day to find out what a woman really wants. But if he don't find the truth within a year and a day, then his punishment would be his life. Once he agreed, he went off and when he started asking questions to the women, all he got was different answers, which was not the one he was looking for. I guess they were all about riches and rags. (I got that from MTV). On his way back to the court, he saw 24 women dancing. All of a sudden, they all vanish out of nowhere like they seen a ghost or something. Well, it all came down to this old hag who obviously knows the answer. The knight asked her for help but here's the catch: she would tell him the answer, but only if he promises to agree to what she's asking for. So he agreed (duh), so the queen let him go when he told her answer to the queen's question. But it didn't stop there. OH NO!! Remember the old hag's request? Well, at the court, she said that she saved him and should be married for her reward. Just for that...they did...THE NEXT DAY!!! She changed into this beautiful woman because he was unhappy with her looks. On line 1260 on pg 116, "A thousand tyme a-rewe he gan hire kisse,And she obeyed hym in every thyng.My question is shouldn't it be the other way around? If she saved his life, shouldn't he be obeying her? My other question is why having the queen been lenient on the punishment towards the knight? Yes, he has raped someone, but she should've gone by the law. I think it was either she was trying to teach him a lesson about women's values, or they were just pulling strings. Hmm...