The Franklin's Tale is a story of nobility as well as honor. The main characters, Dorigen, Arveragus, the Magician, and Aurelius, all displayed great generosity, but only Aurelius was truly noble, and committed his act of generosity out of love of another person, not himself. The other characters were also generous, but they all benefited from their seeming generosity. Being generous is doing something on someone else's behalf, with no regard for one's own wants or feelings. .
Arveragus was not only the least present character in the tale, he was also the least generous. Although he forgave Dorigen for making her promise to Aurelius, he was ready to make her go through with it. Making his wife sleep with another man, sacrificing her faith to him was a very selfish thing of him to do. When he says to Dorigen:.
"Now, wife," he said, "let things that sleep lie still. All may be well, who knows, this very day. But you must keep your promise, that I say. I"d rather be stabbed for love of you Than see you to your promised word untrue Truth is he highest thing within a man's keeping" .
it shows Arveragus made her follow through with it only to uphold his and her honor. After making her sleep with Aurelius, though, Arveragus wanted Dorigen not to tell anyone about the incident, also to protect his honor. This was very controlling and insolent. Arveragus seemed to care more about his honor than he cared about his wife.
Dorigen, while showing more nobility and generosity than Arveragus, still seemed to care more about herself than anyone else in the story. She was faithful to Arveragus the 2 years he was away at sea, but Aurelius was in bed for those 2 years. She made the promise to Aurelius but only because she thought it was impossible, and if it were possible, it would help get her husband home safely, but she shouldn't have made the promise in the first place if she was unwilling to follow through with it.
