The Franklin

1. The Franklin The Canterbury tales

2. Presentation There was a Franklin with him, it appeared;White as daisy-petal was his beard.A sanguine man, high coloured and benign,He loved a morning sop of cake and wine.He lived for pleasure and had always done,For he was Epicurus' very son,In whose opinion sensual delightWas the one true felicity in sight.As noted as St Julian was for bountyHe made his household free to all the County.His bread, his ale were finest of the fineAnd no one had better stock of wine.His house was never short of bake-meat pies,Of fish and flesh, and these in such suppliesIt positively snowed with meat and drinkAnd all the dainties that a man could think.According to the seasons of the yearChanges of dish were ordered to appear.He kept fat partridges in coops, beyond,Many a bream and pike were in his pond.Woe to the cook unless the sauce was hot And sharp, or if he wasn't on the spot!And in his hall a table stood arrayedAnd ready all day long, with places laid.As Justice at the Session none stood higher;He often had benn Member of the Shire.A dagger and a little purse of silkHung at his girdle, white as morning milk.As Sheriff he checked audit, every entry.He was a model among landed gentry.

3. The Franklin’s tale A franklin was a medieval landowner, and this pilgrim's words when interrupting the Squire are often seen as displaying his social status of diminutio. Other such devices are employed throughout the tale. The story opens and closes by recounting how two lovers decide that their marriage should be one of equal status, although they agree that, in public, Arveragus should make decisions so as not to draw suspicion. The idea of women having equality with men was unheard of at the time, and would have been socially unacceptable; this is why they choose to conceal it. Arveragus then travels to Britain to seek honourand fame, a common thing for knights to do at that time. He leaves Dorigen alone in France near the coastal town of Pedmarkthe province of Armorik. She misses her husband terribly while he is gone, and is particularly concerned that his ship will crash while returning home on the black rocks of Brittany. While Arveragus is absent, Dorigen is courted against her will by another suitor, a squire named Aurelius. Finally, to get rid of him and in a lighthearted mood, she makes a rash promise and tells Aurelius that he might have her love providing he can dispose of all the rocks on the coast of Brittany. Aurelius finally manages to secure the services of a magician-scholar of the arcane arts, who, taking pity on the young man, for the princely sum of a thousand pounds agrees "thurgh his magik" to make all the rocks "aweye" "for a wyke or tweye" (possibly by association with an exceptionally high tide). When the "rokkes" vanish, Aurelius confronts Dorigen and demands that she fulfill her bargain. She and her husband agonize over her predicament; for by this time Arveragus has returned safely. During this period Dorigen lists numerous examples of legendary women who killed themselves to maintain their honor. Dorigen explains her moral predicament to her husband who calmly says that in good conscience she must go and keep her promise to Aurelius.

4. Background to the Tale The relationship between the knight and his wife is explored, continuing the theme of marriage which runs through many of the pilgrims' tales. Whereas most of the Breton lais involved magic and fairies, the usual fantastical element is here modified by the use of science to make rocks disappear rather than a spell. This is fitting for a writer like Chaucer who wrote a book (for his son Lewis) on the use of the astrolabe, was reported by Holinshed to be "a man so exquisitely learned in al sciences, that hysmatche was not lightly foundeanye where in those dayes" and was even considered one of the "secret masters" of alchemy. While the idea of the magical disappearance of rocks has a variety of potential sources, there is no direct source for the rest of the story. The rocks possibly come from the legends of Merlin performing a similar feat, or might stem from an actual event. In 2000 a paper was published showing that the magician in the Franklin's Tale attempts to make the rocks disappear in December. In fact, on December 19, 1340 (commonly viewed as the year of Chaucer's birth) the sun and moon were both at their closest distance to earth; an event which will not recur till 3089 and which causes massive high tides. The theme of the story, though, is less obscure that of the "rash promise", in which an oath is made that the person does not envisage having to fulfill.