Marie de France

Many of them of them were composed by women. An example would be Marie de France, author of the collection of lais and The Life of Saint Audrey. Marie de France wrote during the time that Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine were ruling. At this time, tales of courtliness and love were based off of concern of women including: unhappy marriage, fantasy of power, and threats to their independence. Throughout the Lais of Marie de France, there are several themes that reveal hidden messages…

Imagine wanting something, perhaps someone, who you loved more than anything in the world, but you simply could not have that individual. Marie De France: Laüstic is a poem translated by Robert Hanning and Joan Ferrante, who tells a beautiful, yet heartbreaking tale. To have a love so precious and lustful and not being able to do anything other than simply talk with one another through their balcony; which makes it romantic since they are neighbors and are close to each other. Adding icing to…

Chivalry lives inside everyone today just as it did during the middle ages. Not only was chivalry alive in the middle ages, but it is also alive today. In Marie De France’s lay Bisclavret a knight, troubled with the effects of being a werewolf, is tricked by his wife and lead to his demise. When his king comes across the werewolf, Bisclavret, he is struck by the wolf’s actions of plea toward him and takes him under his care. Now a part of the knighthood once again Bisclavret never leaves King…

The writings of Marie de France go against the gender roles of women from the majority of works written during the same time period. Her story Lanval shows this quite clearly. Lanval is a young knight who has been forgotten by his peers. He feels “depressed and worried” because he is “without friends” and “doesn’t know where to look for help” (297). He goes out for a ride and is approached by 2 lovely girls who bring him to their “lady” (298). One thing to note here is that women during this…

Lanval is a narrative poem, or Breton lay, written by Marie de France. In this piece of literature, Marie employs common components of lays including references to the supernatural, romance, and chivalry. These themes, as well as Marie’s interpretation of the tale, offer readers valuable insight into Medieval life. Lanval may be a classic example of a romantic lay, but it manages to turn the expected “knight in shining armor” trope upside down by giving the power of the narrative to the women of…

The History of the Franks and Lais of Marie de France’s were both written in the Middle Ages of Christian Europe. Gregory of Tours writings is the principal source for the history of Frankish kings. He also chronicles the Franks’ intimate lives, such as their polygamous marriages. Lais of Marie de Frances are a collection of narrative poems that deifies love while at the same time having a pessimistic outlook. The History of the Franks and Marie de France both do not conform to Christian…

In The Lais of Marie de France, love is a force that moves us completely against our will. Man is united in the fact that, given enough time on this earth, we each eventually succumb to the hazards of love. Whether these pursuits are successful or wretched and unrequited, man is weakened all the same. In this essay I will argue that it was the intention of Marie de France to illustrate the workings of love and as she does so she uncovers that the closest physical thing that can be related back…

Geoffrey Chaucer and Marie de France have strikingly similar themes within the Breton Lai’s they have produced within their works. A Breton Lai is a narrative form of English and French Medieval literature that usually consist of tales of Courtly love, Chivalry, and often using supernatural elements within the story as well. Both Chaucer’s work of The Wife of Bath’s tale and Breton Lais produced by Marie de France such as Bisclavret and Lanval incorporate all of these elements and they will be…

Marie De France’s uncanny, whimsically lai “Lanval” satirically challenges and reverses the themes of love through stereotypical gender roles, which are unique and romanticized to traditions of the 12th century. Women for eternity have been rendered as beautiful, physical objects, who where inferior to men, and needed nothing more then a body. Marie De France depicted these same stereotypes in her writing but just in a reverse methodology. She criticizes the stereotypes of women with very…

morning in England for all but me. Today my friend Marie de France was asked to be a court writer for the court of Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and she chose me as her lady in waiting. We were walking in the marketplace when we got this news, and Marie was ecstatic. No one knew why they chose Marie, some say that Eleanor wanted to have someone in the court who had a french background besides herself. Others say that Henry and Marie were having an affair, but who would believe…