Honesty In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

One of the most well-known stories of all time, The Canterbury Tales, is not only known for it’s plot, but also for the deeper messages behind each character’s tale. The problem is, people do not always see the more sophisticated meanings behind the stories told. In the Franklin’s Tale, the franklin’s main point is that honesty prevails over all. In some cases, a reader might only see that this is what Chaucer was trying to say when he wrote this story, however it is not. The real significance behind the Franklin’s tale is actually the complete opposite of what the Franklin believes. The point Chaucer tries to get across to the reader is that being honest is not always the right thing to do, and that can definitely be helpful to society today. …show more content…
Averagus did not get cheated on, Dorigen did not have to sleep with Aurelius, and Aurelius did not have to pay the magician for making the rocks “disappear”. However, this situation was not at all as good as it seems. The first time I questioned the Franklin was when the magician made the rocks invisible. Dorigen requested that the rocks would no longer exist in order to create a safer route home for Averagus. When the magician made the rocks invisible, satisfying Dorigen’s request as if they were actually gone, he actually made the sea extremely more dangerous than it already was with the rocks being visible. This was completely overlooked by the franklin while he was telling the story, and is the first time Chaucer demonstrates the moral ambiguity of the