The Franklin's Tale has long been regarded as the culmination of "The Marriage Group," the discussion of marriage that extends at least from the Wife of Bath's Prologue to the the Franklin's Tale, which has traditionally been taken as in some sense resolving the "marriage question" proposed by the Wife of Bath - who should rule in a marriage? This reading was developed by George Lyman Kittredge as part of his interpretation of The Canterbury Tales as a dramatically realized "Human Comedy." Kittredge's article on "Chaucer's Discussion of Marriage" is one of, if not the most, famous and influential critical articles ever written on Chaucer. The idea of a "contract" governing a marriage comes up in one of the exempla told by the "Goodman of Paris": A marriage "contract." The version in Il Filocolo concludes with an extended debate on who was the "most free." Chaucer leaves that out, preferring that we come up with our own answers - but those offered by the characters in Boccaccio's version are most interesting.ĭorigen's "rash promise" has attracted considerable attention for a contemporary example from what is claimed to be real life see: Book of the Knight of LaTour Landry, chapter 131.ĭorigen's catalogue of women who committed suicide rather than become unchaste is drawn from Jerome's Adversus Jovinianum: Jerome, Examples of pagan chastity. The same tale in a more elaborate form (with the production of a garden in January rather than removal of rocks as the "impossible" demand) appears in Boccaccio's Filocolo, which many scholars regard as a direct source for the Franklins Tale: Filocolo, Fourth Question. Much more likely is that the tale was suggested by Boccaccio he used a story of a lover's impossible demands in the Decameron: Decameron Tenth Day, Fifth Tale.
However, no close analogues to the Franklin's Tale appear in any of the surviving romances. Moreover, the names of Averagus and Aurelius seem to have been derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Histories of the Kings of Britain, which also contains an account of Merlin's magical moving of rocks (to build Stonehenge) (see iv.15 and vii.10-12). Derek Pearsall, The Canterbury Tales, London, 1985. For a contemporary definition of the genre see: Introduction to the Lai de Frein.Īlthough the Franklin's Tale is a very unusual "Breton lay," it does have elements of romance (see esp. The Franklin labels his tale a Breton lay. (Students reading this tale for the first time may find an interlinear translation helpful). The question remains: who was the "most free"? The learned clerk, impressed by Aurelius' action, forgives the squire his debt. Aurelius, impressed with Averagus' action, in turn releases Dorigen from her promise. She tells Averagus, who orders her to keep the assignation with Aurelius.
With the help of a learned clerk (to whom he promises an immense fee), Aurelius succeeds (though perhaps only by illusion) and he then demands her love. Aurelius, a young squire, in Averagus' absence, courts Dorigen, who rejects him by setting what she thinks is an impossible task: remove the threatening rocks from the coast, she promises, and I shall grant you my love. Dorigen and Averagus marry, swearing that neither will ever exert absolute power over the other.
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