Author(s): Oya BAYILTMIÅ ÃÄÃTCÃ
Chaucer’s Franklin in the Canterbury Tales presents a medieval example of Greenblatt’s concept of self-fashioning through his performance of bourgeois identity. Although he has feudal origins as a freeholder, the Franklin goes beyond the borders set for him by the three estate structure of medieval England as a money-made man. Hence, he becomes the embodiment of the new man, who has held administrative duties owing to his monetary status and thus who claims gentility despite his need for social recognition and acceptance. Accordingly, this article aims at analysing the Franklin’s depiction in the “General Prologue” to the Canterbury Tales, his words to the Squire and his tale in order to display his self-fashioning through his bourgeois identity performance.
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