'It Is True Art To Conceal Art': The Episodic Structure of Chaucer's 'Franklin's Tale'

Author / Editor
Brown, Carole Koepke.

Title
'It Is True Art To Conceal Art': The Episodic Structure of Chaucer's 'Franklin's Tale'

Published
Chaucer Review 27 (1992): 162-85.

Description
FranT contains a system of alternating parallel events--troth-plighting, complaint, and compassionate help--repeated in threes, reinforcing the theme of "gentilesse." The "trouthe" and "complaint" episodes show a "progressive decline," but the "helpers" episodes demonstrate a contrasting ascendancy brought about by "gentilesse practiced," thus making "gentle deeds" a major force in the Tale.

Chaucer Subjects
Franklin and His Tale.