The Franklin, Epicurus, and the Play of Values

Author / Editor
Ronquist, E. C.

Title
The Franklin, Epicurus, and the Play of Values

Published
Robert Myles and David Williams, eds. Chaucer and Language: Essays in Honour of Douglas Wurtele (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001), pp. 44-60 and 192-98.

Description
A variety of ethical systems--Christian, Boethian, Epicurean, Ciceronian, etc.--were available to Chaucer's audience, and he engages these systems in ways that enable the audience to observe and choose among them. Like commentators on Epicurean thought, Chaucer cites Epicurus (in the Franklin's description in GP) to provoke his audience to ethical consideration.

Alternative Title
Chaucer and Language: Essays in Honour of Douglas Wurtele.

Chaucer Subjects
Franklin and His Tale.
General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.