Human Nature – Canterbury Tales – Geoffrey Chaucer’s Case Study Assessment Answer

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Geoffrey Chaucer’s Case Study Assessment Answer

Assignment Task:

The Franklin’s View of Human Nature

Geoffrey Chaucer’s

The Canterbury Tales

is a collection of 24 stories. The tales contain some arcolect parts, but they are mainly written in verse. The long poem of tales is popular and has continuously been published since the 1400s to even after Chaucer’s death. It presents a story-telling contest of 30 pilgrims who explore a journey to Canterbury to visit the Saint Thomas Becket shrine, where the winning story-teller is to receive free supper that stands as a reward on their return. The ingenious of having a pilgrimage as a literary device allows the author to incorporate together people of diverse societies. Chaucer uses the description of the characters and tales to criticize the English culture of his time. Although his characters fictional, they offer a glance at the practices and customs that exist at that time. It is believed that initially, the author intended to use the perspective of two stories per pilgrim on their way out and two others on their way home, but unfortunately, he never finishes his project and does not make it to the final revision of his work. Scholars have had to access

The Canterbury Tales

in manuscripts. Virtually, all the tales are borrowed from the authors who came before Chaucer, but he gives them a fresh meaning to reveal other hidden truths. He intends to use ordinary circumstances among the characters to demonstrate the sorrow, foibles, and humor of human nature. The Franklin, a character in Chaucer’s tale, is mainly focused on the human nature of happiness and relationships.

In

The Canterbury Tales

, the Franklin is depicted as a wealthy gentleman who belongs to the middle-class. He is a farmer who possesses lands and has a respectable position in his society and loves enjoying life. He has climbed the social ladder and has achieved dignity alongside his wealth. The Franklin’s tale demonstrates how the institution of marriage can be based on commitment and mutual respect rather than the restrictive measures as the other characters describe. The narrator acknowledges at the beginning of the tale that it is in the form of a Breton lay, which is a rhymed romance tale with Celtic origins. Chaucer borrows the story from The Decameron by Boccaccio even though it fits well with the themes of other tales in his collection.

One of the Franklin’s view of

moral freedom and liberty in marriages

is evident. Together with other preceding tales starting from the Wife of Bath, the Franklin’s tale addresses the topics of women and sex, coexistence of love and marriage, happiness in marriage, and equality among spouses. To demonstrate his view, the Franklin talks about a distressing relationship between Arveragus and Dorigen in his tale. The two are young lovers devoted to each other and live in happiness. Arveragus goes off to war and leaves Dorigen behind waiting day and night for his return. She worries that his ship might sink while returning home because of the rocky coast. In Arveragus’ absence, a handsome man named Aurelius falls in love with Dorigen and beseeches her to leave her husband. Dorigen promises Aurelius that she would fall in love with him if he manages to dispose of the rocks in the coast. Aurelius seeks help from a magician and manages to make the rocks disappear. When Dorigen’s husband comes back, he allows her to fulfill her promise to Aurelius, but the latter recognizes the true love in the couple and defers to nobility. The Franklin uses the story to illustrate his view on respect in marriage institutions. The Franklin shows through the tale that a man can allow a woman to make moral decisions. The liberty accorded to Dorigen enables her to settle a tough marriage issue. The author chooses to us the Franklin among other characters to remind the audience about the value of keeping one’s word.

The Franklin believes that

perfect happiness comes through pleasure

. This belief springs from the philosophy of Epicurus (Dimitriadis 102). He is even addressed as the son of Epicurus, but he is not a son of the great philosopher; it is a figure of speech because of his philosophical belief of finding pleasure in foods and drinks. The Franklin loves quality beers or ales, fine wine, and gourmet food. The general prologue of the tales exclusively describes the Franklin in terms of the food he eats. His house has large amounts of pies and food and has the best wine cellar of his time. He maintains a set dinner table all day long with a seasonally appropriate menu much as restaurants do. The Franklin’s cooks have to provide delightful meals at all times; even on a moment’s notice. He has live fish and partridges in his homestead that can be used at any time to make a meal. He extends his belief to his guests. He showers them with foods and drinks and maintains set tables for more guests to come. According to him, perfect happiness comes from the pleasure of eating and drinking.

The Franklins believe that

all human contacts require generosity

. The Franklin has served as a tax auditor and a sheriff. He is a ‘knight of the shire,’ a parliamentary sessions advisor, which makes him a powerful man in his society. With all these positions, he remains an outstanding representative of his social class. There is no description in the prologue that paints him as a corrupt person like it is usually the case with most people in his position. He is a hospitable man who rejoices in being hospitable to other people. His country people call him ‘Saint Julian,’ which means the patron saint of hospitality, because of his generosity (Chaucer 340). His guests receive a continuous service of food until it starts to look like meat and drinks snow in his house (345). Ordinary hosts are likely to dismantle tables after a couple of guests to go and do other things, but the Franklin maintains his tables ready for more guests. In the Franklin’s perspective, generosity is part of human nature. The Franklin demonstrates this view by generously entertaining his guests with food and drinks.

In conclusion, the Franklin is one character. The author uses this character to address human concerns and for personal reflection. The Franklin gives the reader a glimpse of his view about the marriage institution through his tale. Even though we are not directly told that the Franklin believes in moral liberty, the fact that he is assigned that character, and he uses moral liberty to solve a problematic circumstance, shows that he is a believer in the same. His view about happiness and pleasure can be deduced from his love for food. As well, he is a hospitable man who regards generosity as a significant part of human nature.

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