Sovereignty and the Two Worlds of the "Franklin's Tale."

Description: Suggests that FranT is an exposé of "bourgeois sentimentality," and argues that its "central theme" is the "difficulty of perceiving truth in a world of illusions." Self-deceived, the Franklin mistakes his own desires for reality. He projects a false sense of gentility and, in his Tale, distorts the proper ideal of sovereignty in marriage. The characters of FranT are similarly self-deceived, and "allusions to the Creator and his creation" highlight their illusions and failure to understand proper hierarchical order. Contrasts FranT with Boccaccio's "Filocolo," considering the "regenerative" potential of its seasonal imagery triggered by Dorigen's confrontation with reality.

Chaucer Subjects: Franklin and His Tale
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations