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The Franklin And The Wife Of Bath

Essay by   •  March 26, 2011  •  674 Words (3 Pages)  •  1,539 Views

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No story in The Canterbury Tales is more alike as the Franklin's tale and the Wife of Bath's tale, but on a person level they are extremely different. Yet they are both personally alike in some ways, and their stories do have some diversity.

The Franklin's tale and the Wife of Bath's tale are considered folk tales but it can be said that they are courtly romances, yet it is a stretch. Each tale has some sort of magician, or a supernatural person if you must, who will solve the protagonists conflict for a fee. In the Franklin's tale it's the wizard who moves all the stones from the coast of the country, and in the Wife of Bath's tale there is a woman who solves the final conflict by making herself beautiful and loyal. Everyone in both stories are understanding and respectful, the knight in the Franklin's tale and the Queen in the Wife of Bath's tale. In each story, both protagonists, the wife in the Franklin's tale and the knight in the Wife of Bath's tale, swear upon something to someone. Not only do each of those characters follow through with their word but they are both even off the hook in the end. The wife in a Franklin's tale gets to stay with her former husband and the knight's old and ugly wife turns herself into a young, beautiful and loyal woman in the Wife of Bath's tale. Each tale comes to a close with no-one getting hurt; everyone wins and goes home happy.

Though the two tales are very much alike they do have many differences. Like, the Franklin's tale begins joyous for a knight and a young lady wed, while the Wife of Bath's tale starts depressing because a knight assaults a young woman and is set to be killed. Also, in the Franklin's tale the wife is leaning on death by her choice, sad because she misses her husband, yet in the Wife of Bath's tale the knight is near death yet wants to live, close to death because he can't solve the riddle. Another difference between the two stories is that the supernatural person in the Wife of Bath's tale solves a lot of problems, saves a man's life and ends up giving him a great wife, while in the Franklin's tale the supernatural person

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