A search for ethics in the chivalric code

       Honour is first exemplified in The Franklin's Tale in the marriage of Dorigen and Arverigus. She takes him for husband only after two years of his chivalric endeavour to show himself worthy of her. Their ensuing marriage agreement consists in him having the appearance of supreme authority in the world's eyes--lord over his wife in the marriage code--while he will remain servant to her in the courtly love tradition.
       This harmonious relationship is interrupted by two factors :
(1) Arverigus goes to do honourable deeds in Britain for two years, thus leaving the way open for
(2) Aurelius, an unmarried advocate of the courtly love code.
In this guise, Aurelius has already been chafing to approach her, and casts himself as Echo to Dorigen's Narcissus. As Echo, he in fact echoes the humility, tears and chivalric endeavours of Arverigus, so the situation arises where one male's chivalric practice converges with that of another, with Dorigen as central focus.
       The rash promise is the outcome of Aurelius's constant wooing, and it sets up a scenario in which honour will be tested in an ambience of conflicting chivalric claims. With Arverigus conveniently away from home again--for two days this time--Aurelius, with the aid and intercession of a magician, temporarily obliterates from sight the rocks that Dorigen feels so menacing. He lays claim on her to keep her promise and submit to him--in short, to have sex, to fulfil desir.
       So first Dorigen has the problem of being duty bound to honour her promise, but such action would at the same time mean her forsaking her marital virtue, thus demeaning both her and her husband's honour. With a conveniently extended Complaint about virtuous virgins and wives many of whom died rather than sully their honour, Arverigus returns. Confronted with the facts, he sees no way out other than that his wife redeem her promise : the marriage code comes far behind the compulsion to fulfil a requirement of the chivalric code. For all the torment and tears of this married couple, their marital honour is preserved by the generous rejection of her requirement to fulfil the promise. Again, within the chivalric context, Aurelius echoes the attitudes of his putative competitor, Arverigus : it is solely Arverigus's resolution to maintain his chivalric honour and that of Dorigen that brings Aurelius to magnanimous retreat from the contest.
      Elsewhere Aurelius has made a promise to pay the magician for his services, and Aurelius finds himself unable to pay the whole fee, even though the magician has met his part of the bargain. Aurelius is resolute that he will honour the contract in time, and explains these intents to the magician, who in his turn responds by releasing Aurelius from his promise : he echoes Aurelius's generosity. With this resolution, we have come full circle from Arverigus's chivalric courting days, to the position where all the participants evince chivalric attitudes, to where Honour is enshrined. This is, of course, the Franklin's intent : as in Brittany, so it can be in Britain--microcosm to macrocosm, i.e. '' I too can echo but also put into practice hereabouts such chivalric codes, such gentilesse'' .