The Franklin Prologue Analysis

The Franklin prologue’s his tale explaining that this comes from one of the old Bretons many songs. He requests leniency from the party, as he is uneducated, so his speech is simple.
The tale begins with the marriage of the Breton knight Arvéragus and Dorigen. Both are happy, as their marriage is established on equality and neither is above the other. The Franklin comments that when selfishness and impatience enters a relationship then love evaporates. Soon after their marriage Arvéragus leaves for Britain for two years to attend to work. Despite the fact that he sends her letters, Dorigen constantly weeps in his absence, and even though her friends go on walks with her to the port Arvéragus will return home to, she still frets over the dangerous …show more content…
Aurelius is incredibly thankful for the wizard’s illusion, and he approaches Dorigen, telling her that he fulfilled his part of the agreement. Dorigen is shocked by his apparent accomplishment, and she is overcome with sorrow at the realization that she must either give up her body or her reputation. Arvéragus is out of town when the news breaks, so Dorigen can only wallow in thoughts of killing herself to escape her predicament, as other maidens did before her. When Arvéragus returns home Dorigen tells him all about the agreement. He tells her that he bears the shame in her actions, but that she must keep her promise. So, he sends her to Aurelius, but when Aurelius hears about how well Arvéragus kept his wife’s promise he is so moved that he refuses to break the couple’s marriage, and instead tells Dorigen to return to her husband. Aurelius says that a squire can be as honorable as a knight, and when he approaches the scholar about his debt, all is forgiven, and the scholar proves himself to be honorable. The tales ends asking the audience who was the most