Geoffrey Chaucer, The Franklin's Tale

Andrea Schutz (St. Thomas University, New Brunswick)

Ed. by , Richard Utz, Georgia Institute of Technology
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1387

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)
Story

Resources

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The Franklin's Tale

(

FranT

) is the second and final tale in Fragment V (E). It interrupts

The Squire's Tale

, and this narrative dynamic is as important to the

Franklin’s Tale

's themes and style as is the teller interrupting. It dates from the high period of Chaucer's work on the

Canterbury Tales

, and may perhaps be more precisely dated to 1394 (Cooper 231).

The tale itself derives – very loosely – from one told twice by Giovanni Boccaccio, once in the Filocolo (c. 1336), and again in the Decameron (c. 1353); Chaucer's numerous changes and handling, however, result in a very distinct tale. The context of the Franklin’s Tale within its fragment and within larger groupings of the Canterbury Tales also changes the basic story of impossible demand become rash promise. As in so many of

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2643 words

Citation: Schutz, Andrea. "The Franklin's Tale". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=19962, accessed 24 April 2024.]

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