bout a marriage where the laws of courtesy rule. For example, the knight in the tale promised his wife that he would never try to dominate her or show any form of jealousy, and at the same time he would obey any command she gave him. This is projected in lines 17-22 in The Franklins Tale:"Of his free wil he swoor hire as a knightThat nevere in al his lif he day ne nightNe shold upon hime take no maistrye Again hir wil, ne kithe hire jalousye,But hire obeye and folwe hir wil in al,As any lovere to his lady shal."Arveragus and Dorigens love and respect for each other is apparent at many places throughout the course of the tale. Dorigen reciprocates his vow to her in lines 25-32 of The Franklins Tale:"She thanked hym, and with ful greet humblesseShe seyde, "sire, sith of youre gentilesseYe profre me to have so large a reyne,Ne wolde nevere God bitwixe us tweyne,As in my gilt, were outher werre or strif.Sire, I wol be your humble, twere wyf,Have heer my trouthe, til that myn herte breste."Thus been bothe in quiete and in reste."The franklin goes on to describe the blissful happiness between Arveragus and Dorigen and goes as far as to say that married couples share a happiness that someone who isnt married couldnt appreciate or measure. This occurs in lines 75-77 of The Franklins Tale:"Who koude telle, but he hadde wedded be,The joye, the ese, and the properiteeThat is bitwixe an housbonde and his wyf?"However, later in the story, the couples happiness takes a turn for the worse when Dorigen makes a pledge of copulation to Aurelius in jest, and Arveragus makes the noble decision to make Dorigen stand by her word. While one might say the knight was foolish not to fight for his beloved Dorigen, it can be argued that he knew the value of a promise and would go to great lengths to keep his word and honor; both of these views were appreciated by the franklin.In summation, comparing Alisons adultery and infidelity to Dorigens faithful love to...
