Marriage in Chaucer's The Clerk's Tale and The Franklin's Tale

Even though these two tales conclude differently, they both raise the idea of how levels of obedience is critical to marriage. These two tales embody Chaucer's overall purpose for The Canterbury Tales, which states that social hierarchy does not determine a person's morals. Discussing The Clerk's Tale and The Franklin's Tale further will construct a more apparent notion.
             The critic, John P McCall's article, "The Clerk's Tale and the Theme of Obedience" examines different literary critics perspectives to the tale. He suggests that it is common for critics to over analyze this tale in particular for its exaggerated theme of obedience. McCall's perspective on the tale is simple; a woman who is devoted to her husband and abides by the social conventions of marriage of the time period. McCall's only real problem with the tale is not with Griselda, but rather with Walter's testing of his wife. McCall attempts to categorize the test as progressive in order to suggest that this story is more successful than many critics believe. McCall argues that in this tale there is no evident distinction between freewill and sovereignty.
             The critic Conor McCarthy's article; "Love, Marriage, and Law: Three Canterbury Tales" discusses these three conventions in The Clerk's Tale, The Franklin's Tale, and The Merchant's Tale. McCarthy focuses on how the idea of love, marriage, and law in The Clerk's Tale and The Merchant's tale attribute to the interpretation of the Franklin's Tale. McCarthy argues that The Franklin's Tale does not provide any solutions to the problems in the The Clerk's Tale and The Merchant's Tale it just magnifies them. Cathy Hume's article focusing on The Franklin's Tale provides more insight on this topic. The critic Cathy Hume's article; "The name of soveraynetee": The Private and Public Faces of Marriage in The Franklin's Tale" discusses the idea of the private and public marriage in The Franklin's Tale.