English teaching that satisfies curricula standards has often been siloed from instruction that advances the goals of social justice. Exasperated teachers may feel they can either meet the day-to-day demands of their profession or teach to dismantle social inequities, but not achieve the aims of both approaches. In this reflective practitioner piece, the authors offer pedagogical realism as a means to negotiate and reconcile these seemingly dichotomous orientations to English teaching. Using narrative inquiry, the authors illustrate a pedagogical realist approach to teaching 'The Wife of Bath's Tale'. This pedagogical anecdote intends to show both in-service teachers and teacher educators how they can teach for social justice while delivering 'traditional' materials.