A newly married couple, Averagus and Dorigen promise each other they will always exercise scrupulous tolerance towards one another's words and deeds, and in view of this, a distressed but acquiescent Dorigen accepts her husband's decision to travel to England alone. One day Dorigen's friends persuade her to join them for a dance and a picnic. Aurelius is smitten by her beauty but Dorigen refuses his advances. In order to get rid of him she sets him an impossible task, telling him that she could only love him if removed all the rocks from the extremely rocky shore. By means of trickery Aurelius manages to convince Dorigen he has performed the task and claims his prize but Dorigen says she would rather die and recounts the stories of twentyone women who all managed to preserve their virtue.

Averagus makes a well-timed return and tells Dorigen that although it grieves him, she must keep her promise and sends her to Aurelius.

Aurelius, shamed by Averagus' nobility and Dorigen's wretchedness admits his trickery and sends Dorigen home untouched.

Unable to pay the student-magician who sold him the spell, Aurelius confesses the whole story and the student-magician magnanimously forgives Aurelius' debt.

In The Picture:

Watched by Averagus and the twentyone paragons of virtue, Dorigen finds herself out on a limb as she regrets her foolish promise.

Behind The Picture:

The Franklin's Tale is one of Chaucer's many instructive narratives revealing medieval ideals regarding proper behaviour within a marriage. Nobility of character along with love, patience and forbearance form the main thrust of this tale, and Chaucer makes the point that even Aurelius who originally set out to deceive was capable of honesty in the end.

Symbolism:

Dorigen holds a bouquet of foxgloves as she waits two years for her husband's return.

She almost convinces herself he has fallen victim to the reef of dead mens souls which can be seen beneath the net of intrigue spread over Aurelius who sits on the rocky shore, playing the lyre (!) for the group of women dancing at the picnic. His debt hangs over him (the money in the tree) and also hiding in the branches are the twentyone women of Dorigen's Lamentation while Averagus peers out from the trunk.

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