Chivalry In The Knight Lanval

During the Middle Ages in England, there was a heavy emphasis on knights and chivalry in much of the works of the time. While there are elements of each of these aspects in Marie de France’s works, many of her lais have a strong focus on the desires of her female characters and differ slightly from the works of romance written by her contemporaries. The male writers of her time were largely interested in chivalry and courtly responsibilities of knights, however, Marie went in a different direction and focused more her female characters. The fact that Marie de France is a female writer in a patriarchal society and her emphasis on the female characters in her lais is evidence that her works show features of modern feminism. Although the lais …show more content…
They agree to an arrangement that she will appear whenever Lanval calls her when he is alone, but he must not tell anyone about her or she will no longer see him. However, when Queen Guinevere attempts to seduce him, Lanval breaks his promise by saying that he has a lover more beautiful than the queen. The queen was furious and so told the king it was Lanval who tried to seduce and rape her. A trial was held to determine whether Lanval was guilty. He was ready to die when his faerie lover came and stood up for him, essentially saving his …show more content…
The fact that Arthur and the knights begin to like Lanval more when he is wealthy shows their greed and brings their character into question. Chivalric behavior emphasizes honor, generosity, and avoidance of greed and pride yet the king and knights do not seem to fit many of these qualities. In addition, while most works pertaining to king Arthur show him as generous and kind, he is shown to be mean and greedy in this story. The knights in this story also seem to be only interested in sex and money which was not the norm in the middle ages, another jab at the chivalric