"Gentilesse" and the Franklin's Tale.

Author / Editor
Mann, Lindsay A.

Title
"Gentilesse" and the Franklin's Tale.

Published
Studies in Philology 63 (1966): 10-29.

Description
Explores the "aristocratic, moral, and Christian" understandings of "gentilesse," listing the entailed ideals of truth, benevolence, mildness, etc. as expressed in ParsT, Gent, and in French courtly tradition. Argues that a complex understanding of gentility organizes and highlights FranT, its characterizations, and its thematic concerns, and contrasts the depiction of "gentilesse" in FranT with that in the WBPT and the GP description of the Wife. Also considers how and to what extent "gentilesse" suits the character of the Franklin.

Chaucer Subjects
Franklin and His Tale
Language and Word Studies
Wife of Bath and Her Tale
Parson and His Tale
Gentilesse