If I had to award the prize to the best tale, it would be on the basis of which tale contains the lesson I need to apply right now in my life. Not the tale which was told by the most honorable pilgrim just because he has the highest social rank. Not the tale where Chaucer seems to match the tale with the teller perfectly. Not the tale that is a delight to teach as students react to the raunchy denouement of a hot poker strategically applied.

“The Franklin’s Tale” would be my choice for the message it gives about the importance of patience and forbearance and self-control for a relationship to survive the knocks of fortune and unintended consequences of ill-considered words (or actions).

From the very best of motivations, Dorigen makes a thoughtless promise to a squire which jeopardizes her marriage and her integrity of spirit and body. She never thought her condition would be met, but somehow Aurelius manages to make the “blake rockes” disappear, and she must face the reality of her rash promise. What I do find interesting is that Aurelius announces that the rocks are gone and then he disappears. She stands all alone looking down the cliff and sees not rocks. All alone. How often do we face problems alone?

Her first reaction is absolute astonished quiet and all the blood leaves her face. Then she goes home and waits for her husband to come back from a two day trip. The Franklin says she “wepeth, wailleth, al day or two / And swowneth…But to hirself she spak.” So in other words, she is very upset but she tells no one and waits for Arveragus. She places her complete trust in him, and she believes that he will help her. She knows that he will listen to her and find some kind of solution.

How often I have been in a similar situation where something is just dumped on me and all I can think about is getting home and waiting for my husband to come home so we can talk it through. He always makes me feel better with his very presence. That is what Arveragus does for Dorigen. He arrives home and listens to her and puts everything in perspective. He does not berate her for making a silly promise, he does not doubt her own love for him, and he does not take the situation personally… at least not for a while. And when he does finally burst out crying, he still reinforces his message that they are in this together and they must keep the secret of her promise and that he will endure his woe.

The trust Dorigen feels for Arveragus, and the trust he returns to her models how all lasting relationships survive.

At the end of the tale, the Franklin says,

Arveragus and Dorigen his wyf
In sovereyn blisse leden forth hir lyf.
Never eft ne was ther angre hem bitwene.
He cherisseth hire as though she were a queene,
and she was to hym trewe for everemoore.

Now what is interesting in the lines is the plural third person possessive pronoun and its following singular noun in the second line: “hir lyf.” The Frankin emphasizes that Dorigen and Arveragus share their life — not lives. This seems to imply even greater harmony and unity than the superlative noun phrase “sovereyn blisse.” And they “leden forth” suggests as well that they are both leading the way forward in their shared life. The Franklin also lets us know that he continues to treat her like royalty and does not claim that he was higher than his beloved “queene.” This follows from the beginning of the tale when Arveragus vows to always obey her while she promises to be “youre humble trewe wyf.” It is as though at the end of the story, they renew the marriage promises they made at the beginning.

There I think is another lesson that relationships must be renewed on a regular basis and particularly reconfirmed after moments of crisis and conflict.  This has been one of my favorite tales for literally decades. Initially I loved it for the romanticism of Dorigen and Arveragus, but now I love it for the maturity of the characters as they meet an unexpected, disrupting challenge from the outside to their shared peace and love.