Apollo's Chariot and the Christian Subtext of <i>The Franklin's Tale</i>

Abstract

Each of the fragments 4, 5, and 6 in the Ellesmere order of The Canterbury Tales contains two tales in which Christian values are contrasted with pagan ones. Christian submission in The Clerk's Tale is opposed to pagan hedonism in the Merchant's , magic to providence in the Squire's and Franklin's , and Roman justice to divine judgment in the Physician's and Pardoner's . Since the Squire's and Franklin's tales both have secular tellers and a pagan setting, it is not immediately obvious that they can be contrasted as secular and religious tales; nevertheless, it is the Christian basis of The Franklin's Tale that I wish to demonstrate in this essay. Indeed, the whole fi fth fragment, it seems to me, develops as a considered progress from pagan ethics to Christian morality.In consequence, The Franklin's Tale is best understood not on its own but as a response to The Squire's Tale . 1 Whereas The Squire's Tale is pagan, incomplete, and magical, the Franklin's sequel (and I use the word advisedly) is not merely complete in itself but a completion of the unity called fragment 5; it repudiates magic by treating it as mere illusion, and it contains a Christian subtext in its ostensibly pagan setting. Further, whereas the characters in The Squire's Tale are stereotypes-the feasting Oriental King, the courteous knight, the dawn-celebrating princess, and the lovelorn courtier diminished to falcon form-those that the Franklin portrays undergo a testing experience that demonstrates the folly of their preconceived ideas. Their understanding of the ideal of gentillesse changes and develops, and the tale reaches closure at the end of a linear narrative. 2 The Squire's Tale , on the other hand, offers stasis but no story, subjects but no psychology, situations but no resolutions. 3 apollo's chariot and the christian subtext of THE FRANKLIN'S TALE