Essays on The Lais of Marie De France

“Lanval,” a short story in Marie de France’s “Lais,” is a journey of chivalry and knightship, with an unnatural representation of women in power. In the medieval era, women were objectified and often written to be underneath the influence of man. Marie de France sought...

In Marie de France’s Lanval, the character of the mysterious demoiselle rises above the patriarchal male-dominated society and stands alone, using her beauty and objectification through the male gaze to assert dominance over any situation and in the end save Lanval from certain death. The...

Within Arthurian literature, the use of ‘faerie’, magic and the supernatural phenomenon play a pivotal role. When approaching the subject, one should consider what the supernatural entails. It is my understanding that circumstances of the supernatural most commonly involve a person with the ability to...

It is safe to say that in today’s society many pieces of literature have flipped the script, and what was once considered the ideal woman who confirmed to societies image, is now a woman who can vary well do as she pleases. Many times in...

One of many medieval writers using the motif of transformation in their works is Marie de France. In one of her lais, Bisclavret, she explores the idea of a man turning into a wolf and the aftermath of his wife finding out about his true...

Guigemar narrates the adventures and twists of a well-rounded knight seeking for love. This lai was written by some Marie at the very end of the 12th century and expresses a female representation of the medieval era. It recounts one courtly relationship between the eponym...

In most medieval romances characters are defined by their social status and nobility. The knights are to go for quests and prove themselves with heroic deeds while noble ladies are to be adored and courtly approached by noble warriors. Characters are built around conventions and...

In “Lanval” Marie de France uses vivid descriptive imagery to highlight the disharmony between great love and the real world. “Lanval” contains many vivid descriptions, but these primarily pertain to the fairies of the lai (though the fairies are not explicitly named). When Lanval’s lady...

In the twelfth century, a woman only known by the name of Marie wrote the Lais of Marie de France. It is a collection of courtly love poems that belong to the greater genre of courtly romance, and each of the tales illustrates a rather...