Comparing Love And Marriage In The Franklin's Tale

The Franklin's tale portrays one main theme, and that theme is love. all throughout his tale, the Franklin has a story of love and never ever giving up on one another told all throughout the entire tale. It is likely that Chaucer wanted one of the tales to be a true love story, where through thick and thin one person loved another. Most of the themes introduced in the preceding tales are reintroduced in The Franklin's Tale and organized in support of the orthodox position of the Man of Law as tempered by the sensuality and worldliness of the Wife of Bath. The Franklin's position on marriage differs from the Man of Law's only in that it takes a far less austere view of this world's joys. The Franklin strives for something in between the complete sovereignty advocated by the Wife of Bath and the patience suggested by the Clerk. The marriage in The Franklin's Tale is one of mutual consent, mutual obligation, and mutual trust and faith. The Franklin's Tale is also related to The Knight's Tale and The Miller's Tale in that all involve a three-way love affair. It is connected with The Squire's Tale in the way the Franklin insists upon complimenting the Squire, and it is related to The Clerk's Tale in emphasizing the need of patience in marriage. …show more content…
In the tale, there is the beautiful Dorigen who refuses to be unfaithful while her husband is away. Then there is, Averagus' idea of "trouthe" (truth) and "troth" (promise and fidelity). The duty of keeping a promise even though it may be spoken in some cases Averagus to send Dorigen to her sorrowful assignation because he is caught up in the letter of the law. Were he more informed, he would know that the rocks have not been moved at all — they only seem to have been moved — and thus the bargain has no reality or