Dorigen’s Character in the Franklin’s Tale

Dorigen is the main character in the Franklin’s tale by Chaucer and yet he manages to make her seem weak and melodramatic whilst still allowing the tale to revolve around her. Dorigen is shown as having a weak character and Chaucer allows his contempt to show through several times as he obviously feels disdain for Dorgien’s excessive display of emotion. His opinion of Dorigen is unbalanced and biased as it shows her in a light in which the reader cannot fail to dislike her. Several times Chaucer makes comments that not only undermine Dorgen but reflect on the whole female race as well e.g “as doon these noble wives when him liketh.” And then goes on to say that at her husband, Arveragus lives that she “moornth, waketh, waileth, fasteth, plaienth.” This shows how he feels that she is showing this display of emotion only because she feels that is what she should do. The way he writes shows that he doubts the sincerity of her emotions and believes her to be quite shallow.

However in contrast to this Dorigen seems a stronger character where Chaucer writes of her and Arveragus’s courtship as he says “”she thanked him and with great humblesse she saide ‘…ye profere me to have so large a reine” as here Chaucer writes as the Franklin but some of his own views show through. Chaucer seems to be very cynical about how genuine Dorgien is but strangely for the time in which this was written Chaucer seems to believe in equal relationships. “hire obeye and folwe her wil in al as any lovere to his lady shal” this shows that he feels that their relationship should be an equal one and yet this doesn’t seem to fit in with his views about Dorgien at all. Although the end statement is generalising ‘as any lovere to his lady shal’ the reference is specific in applying to Dorgien and Arveragus. Chaucer might be trying to apply to everyone but it still seems as though he doubts Dorgien’s emotions when Arveragus leaves but believes that she does love him –or that she loves the prospect of marriage instead? For the way he speaks does suggest that in his cynicism he believes that Dorigen does not love Arveragus but instead loves the prospect of marriage and being safe, which does imply that he believes her unable to live on her own.