Outline:

• lines 1 - 32 (pp. 449 - 451): The knight foreswears mastery and his lady promises peaceful love.
• lines 33 - 85 (pp. 451 - 453): The Franklin gives his philosophy of love, and says that the knight (Arveragus) and his lady (Dorigen) are an example of the married happiness brought by wise love.
  Key points of the Franklin's philosophy:
  • "Love will not be constrained by mastery" (line 36)
  • "Love is a thing as free as any spirit" (line 39)
  • "See who is the most patient in love: / he has the greatest advantage" (line 44)
  • "One cannot scold or complain at every word" (line 48)
  • "And therefore this wise, valiant knight, in order to
    live in comfort, promised her forbearance,
    and she wisely gave her promise to him
    that there would never be any lack of it on her part."
  The knight prepares to go to Britain for two years to "seek honor and glory at arms"

• lines 86 - 166 (pp. 453 - 457): Dorigen mourns her husband's absence with many a tear; her friends try to comfort her, and she begins to come out of it, but when she goes for a walk on the coast near her castle in Brittany, she mourns anew because there is no ship on the sea that is bringing her husband back to her, and mourns even more because of the ugly rocks that seem to have no other purpose in the world but to sink ships (such as one that her husband might be on).
• lines 167 - 277 (pp. 457 - 463): Dorigen's friends take her away from the seashore and find other diversions for her, and so -- on the 6th of May, when everything is in bloom -- they go to garden where there is a dance, and a young squire named Aurelius dances before her. Aurelius is "one of the handsomest men alive" (line 204), and also "strong, right virtuous, and rich, and prudent." And for two years he has had a secret love for Dorigen. Since Aurelius is her neighbor and she has known him for many years, they begin to talk, and Aurelius finds courage to tell her of his love for her. She responds by saying that she will never be unfaithful, but then playfully tells him that if he removes all of the rocks from the Brittany coast, she will love him best. Then she advises Aurelius to forget all about it, and wonders why he would request the favor of her, a married woman, whose husband can have her any time he pleases.
• lines 278 - 358 (pp. 463 - 467): Aurelius falls into despair, feels that he must surely die, and prays to Apollo and Phoebus for an impossibility, a high tide which will cover the rocks continuously for two years.
• lines 359 - 372 (p. 469): Arveragus returns. He doesn't even think to ask any questions or be jealous, and he and Dorigen are blissfully happy.
• lines 373 - 568 (pp. 469 - 479): Aurelius is in such despair that he can't move a foot in two years. His brother pities him, then remembers that when he was a student at Orléans he saw a book about natural magic, by which grand illusions can be created. He determines to take his brother there to find a scholar who can create the illusion that the rocks are all gone. On their way, before they come into the town of Orléans, they meet a scholar who knows their errand before they tell it. They go to the scholar's house, where he entertains them with many illusions, and they bargain with him about the price for the illusion of making the rocks disappear. Aurelius declares that the illusion is worth the asking price, which is very high -- 1,000 pounds. After much work with his astrological tables, which takes until frosty December, the scholar produces the illusion.
• lines 569 - 610 (pp. 479 - 480): Aurelius finds Dorigen and very humbly requests that she keep her promise to him, for the rocks are surely gone, as she can see for herself if she cares to look.
• lines 611 - 738 (pp. 481 - 489): Dorigen is deeply shocked by the blow she has been given by Fortune. She reflects on her choices:

  "Alas, I complain against you, Fortune,
  who have tied me, all unwary, in your chain,
  from which I know no way to escape,
  except only death or else dishonor;
  I must choose one of these two.
  But nevertheless, I would still rather lose
  my life than be shamed in my body,
  or know myself false, or lose my good name . . ."

All alone (her husband is away for a few days), she contemplates suicide, in a medieval way, by thinking of all the well-known stories she has heard about women who have chosen death before dishonor. Nevertheless, when Arveragus returns home on third day she begins to weep and spills the whole story.
• lines 739 - 770 (pp. 489 - 491): Arveragus tries to put on a cheerful face and tells her that "I would rather be stabbed, / because of the true love I have for you, / than have you fail to keep your word of honor. / Honor is the highest thing that man can hold." (lines 748 - 751), but then he bursts into tears and forbids her tell anyone of "this misadventure." The Franklin comments that perhaps people might consider Arveragus foolish for putting his wife in jeopardy, but asks that you wait and see how it turns out.
• lines 771 - 828 (pp. 491 - 493): As Dorigen is making her way to the garden for her assignation with Aurelius, he meets her in the town square (he has been keeping an eye on her place to see if she will come out). He asks her where she is going, and she tells him she is doing as her husband has said. At this, Aurelius is astonished & decides it would be churlish on his part, and against all generosity and nobility, to insist that Dorigen keep her promise. So he releases her from her promise and promises to never speak of it to anyone. She thanks him, returns to her husband, and they live happily ever after.
• lines 829 - 892 (pp. 493 - 497): Aurelius wonders what he should do now. He doesn't have the money to pay the scholar who performed the magic, so he decides he'll ask if he can pay in installments; otherwise, he'll have to sell his inheritance and become a beggar. The scholar is a sharp with him, and points out that he kept his part of the bargain, but when he finds out that Aurelius didn't get Dorigen, and why, he realeases Aurelius from his debt, to prove that a scholar can be just as generous as a squire and a knight.
• lines 893 - 896 (p. 497): The Franklin asks a discussion question: "Who was most generous"?